Author of The Shack talks spirituality at Lifetree Caf – Port St. Joe Star

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William Paul Young, best known as the author of The Shack, will discuss the difference between being spiritual and being religious in a filmed interview at Lifetree Caf

William Paul Young, best known as the author of The Shack, will discuss the difference between being spiritual and being religious in a filmed interview at Lifetree Cafat 7 p.m. CT on Monday, Feb. 20.

Nearly 30 percent of Americans identify themselves as spiritual but not religious, and the trend is growing. Youngs best-seller has prompted a national discussion of the difference between spirituality and religion.

I make a distinction between the church as an organization and the church as people, says Young. Biblically speaking, the church is people. Its only people. They didnt have the buildings, the structures, or platforms. Its simply people.

The Lifetree event, titled Spiritual but Not Religious, offers participants the opportunity to explore the issue in a safe, open environment.

Admission to the 60-minute event is free. Snacks and beverages are available. Lifetree Caf is located at 1602 U.S. Highway 98 in Mexico Beach across from El Governor Motel.

Lifetree Caf is a place where people gather for conversation about life and faith in a casual coffeehouse-type setting. Questions about Lifetree may be directed to Gary Grubb at 334-806-5667 or livingwater@livingwateratthebeach.com.

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Banner night as Woodstock Academy wins 8th straight ECC gymnastics title – Norwich Bulletin

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The Rev. Cal Lord For The Bulletin

I looked out the window of the exercise room at the gym and thought to myself, Someone else has a car just like ours. I did a double take wondering if Lori had come by looking for me. Then I realized she didnt know where I was.

The fact that our van is 14 years old makes it stand out. There is no mistaking it. There just arent too many of them left on the road. So what were the chances that there would be a similar one out in the parking lot?

Still puzzled by the mystery, I looked out about a half an hour later. It was still there. I glanced over to where I had parked the Prius and I couldnt find it. Thats when it dawned on me that the mysterious van was ours. I had the van today.

Call it a senior moment. I was glad I hadnt mentioned it to anyone. How could I forget something like that? Seems so silly. Thats when it hit me that this wasnt the first time I jumped to a wrong conclusion on something I had seen.

I think a lot of us are prone to do that. Whether it is something weve seen on Facebook or some event we witnessed first-hand, we make a lot of assumptions about what we are seeing. We develop motives, see rationales and assess guilt.

It is easy to make snap judgments. The problem is that they are often wrong. We dont have all the facts. We only know part of the equation. We fill in the blanks with information that helps define our own narrative.

God tells to be slow to anger. He tells us to hold our tongues. He says not to judge. He calls on us to forgive and turn the other cheek. He challenges us to have humility. I wonder what would happen if we approached life like that?

I think there would be more room for conversation, for true understanding and for the peace and love of God to filter through all of our relationships. The world needs that now, more than ever. So hop in. Ive got a van. Lets change the world together by embracing Gods way.

God bless! See you in church.

The Rev. Cal Lord, of Norwich, is the pastor of Central Baptist Church of Westerly. Reach him at calstigers@gmail.com.

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Banner night as Woodstock Academy wins 8th straight ECC gymnastics title - Norwich Bulletin

Best Books on Spiritual Enlightenment / Awakening (243 books)

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1 I Am That: Talks with Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj by Nisargadatta Maharaj 4.51 avg rating 3,213 ratings

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Tu B’Shvat Thoughts: Bringing Mysticism Back – New Voices

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When Tu Bshvat comes around, I roll up my sleeves and prepare myself for the ritual tree planting, garden weeding, and litter collecting that has marked my Tu Bshvats of the past. My less observant, modern Jewish community taught me the holidays message of social justice in concrete terms: We plant trees, trees grow, trees make the world a better place.

Far from what I learned in Hebrew school, I found solace in these spiritual explanations, inspiring me to want to push my less observant Jewish community to embrace more mystical interpretations of Jewish ritual to retain our connection to other spiritual communities in an empowering, uniquely Jewish way.

For me, there was a disconnect between the spiritual understanding of Tu Bshvat and my concrete understanding of the holiday, built on the rationalist and humanist values of my modern Jewish community. In contrast, the Hazon Haggadah begins with a coy nod to the wonder built into all Jewish ritual. It quotes Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel (zl) saying, There is neither worship or ritual without a sense of mystery. This acknowledgment of uncertainty and wonder stands in contradiction to the more material descriptions of Tu Bshvat to which I was accustomed.

While willing to focus on ideas of community and social justice, my community is nervous to discuss the less tangible and more spiritual elements of Judaism like G-d and mysticism. For this materially-rooted community, its more comfortable to teach children concrete actions like planting a tree than it is to encourage them to explore more uncertain aspects of Tu Bshvat. However, this trepidation to address the unknown left me and likely other Jewish millennials with a spiritual craving that feels undernourished by my Jewish communitys rational approach.

I understand that this philosophy didnt emerge in a vacuum. My communitys lean towards the rational, as opposed to the spiritual, is a product of the Haskalah (enlightenment) in 19th century Europe. The Haskalah movement wanted to deemphasize the authority of kabbalah and later Hasidism by infusing Judaism with a rational, humanistic perspective. Ultimately, my Jewish communitys desire to center Tu Bshvat around universal values like environmentalism is a product of the Haskalahs reforms.

My community needs to realize embracing Jewish mysticism doesnt mean sacrificing universalism.We do not need to shun our own spiritual tradition in order to fit into our broader society or feel entwined in a global community. Religious mysticism exists in many faiths, and we should recognize how our mystical practices connect us to a diversity of spiritual communities.

Plus, rationalism has its dangers. Often Western societal elites heralded the push towards rational modernism in order to better control the population of the countries they headed. For example, prior to the 1910 revolution in Mexico, the elites of the country pushed for the population to adopt modern ideas that would show an allegiance to the United Statess system of thought. Meanwhile, missionaries during the colonization of Africa often stamped out the local populations spiritual and religious practices in order to organize the people under a Western thought process that the colonizers could control. These missionaries feared that a strong, local spiritual tradition could empower the people to rise against their oppressors. Thus the process of adopting rational, modern belief systems has historically been tied tied to Western imperialism and colonization. By holding on to spiritual practice, we can push against the dominant ideas of Western society and join a community of people who are attempting to retain their communal power through spirituality.

The Hazon Haggadah continues its explanation of the holidays mysticism with a brief history of the spiritual origins of Tu Bshvat. As the story goes, Jewish exiles from Spain found their way to Tzvat and began imbuing Tu Bshvat with its mystical qualities.

As I look to my own Jewish community and feel frustrated with its disconnect from the spiritual elements of our tradition, this story stands as a reminder that, in all times in Jewish history, groups of people have needed to invigorate Jewish practice with renewed spirituality. The fact that Hazon, a non-Orthodox organization, put out such a spiritually imbued Tu BShvat haggadah is a good sign that the less observant Jewish community is beginning to embrace mysticism once again. As we look out on the trees we planted last week and and remember the delicious taste of the seven species, I hope that we can all plant seeds of wonder, mystery, and mysticism in our growing understanding of our rich spiritual tradition.

Hannah Weintraub is a senior at the University of Pittsburgh, majoring in History and Fiction Writing with a minor in Jewish Studies.

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Lisa Lampanelli goes from insults to enlightenment – Detroit News – The Detroit News

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Comedian Lisa Lampanelli says that she lives for self-development and self-discovery.(Photo: Dan Dion)

You might not expect someone who insults people for a living to have a lot of close friends. Comedian Lisa Lampanelli, however, says she values the relationships she has with her friends and family over fame or wealth.

The stand-up comic was driving to a spiritual retreat when interviewed by The Detroit News last month in advance of her Friday performance at MotorCity Casino Hotel.

Once a month or so I go for a week to this place in the Berkshires and I take different kinds of classes, workshops, mediation, she said. Im doing one called Hunger, Hope and Healing next week because I wrote a play on food and body image and I think it helps me figure out eating and food, and emotionally eating and why people do it and it helps me personally and with my play.

Lampanelli, 55, calls herself an insult comic and spends the majority of her stand-up routine making fun of the audience and herself. In real life, though, she says she lives for self-development and self-discovery.

She organizes game nights with her friends and elderly mother (who loves Apples to Apples and Catchphrase).

If you ask me whats the most important thing, thats it, she said. I dont need any more fame. I dont need any more money. I dont need any more achievements. I dont feel that adds to your self worth unless you really believe youre worthy.

But this enlightenment doesnt mean Lampanelli is going soft with her act. Shes still the Queen of Mean, and no ones race or sexual orientation is off-limits at her shows. She says lately, though, during a question and answer period at the end of her shows, shes been giving a lot of advice.

I talk about my divorce ... my weight loss and my surgery, and people ask me advice about life which I love because Im under the impression that I know more than everybody in the universe, she joked. Im like Dr. Phil with a ton of estrogen, but not that much because Im goin through menopause. I got really happy a few months ago because some girl who I told to break up with her meth-head boyfriend broke up with him the next time I was there. I was like oh my God, I changed a life.

Another topic that has come up lately during her post-show Q&A is Donald Trump. Lampanelli was on season 12 of Celebrity Apprentice. After raising $130,000 for Gay Mens Health Crisis of New York City, she was fired by Trump late in the season.

He never bothered me, she says of the president. He never rubbed me the wrong way during The Apprentice. When I roasted him twice he was totally hilarious, had a great sense of humor.

Personally I dont have a problem with him ... but obviously our views are completely different and diametrically opposed. I still feel like Im friendly enough with him where I can do jokes about him and everybody else. Hillary doesnt escape jokes from me, either.

Im not a political comic. I never cared about politics in my life and now that Ive sort of had this human interaction with him I think its fun to talk about the different thing thats happened. That makes my stand-up show a lot more fun for me because I can kind of tell all.

mbaetens@detroitnews.com

(313) 222-2402

Twitter: @melodybaetens

Lisa Lampanelli

8 p.m. Friday

Sound Board at MotorCity Casino Hotel

2901 Grand River, Detroit

(313) 309-4700

$30-$45

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Setting sun on space station solar research – Phys.org – Phys.Org

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February 16, 2017 Backdropped by the blackness of space and the thin line of Earth's atmosphere, the International Space Station is seen from Space Shuttle Discovery as the two spacecraft begin their relative separation. Earlier the STS-119 and Expedition 18 crews concluded 9 days, 20 hours and 10 minutes of cooperative work onboard the shuttle and station. Undocking of the two spacecraft occurred at 2:53 p.m. (CDT) on March 25, 2009. Credit: NASA/ESA

Today, ground control in Belgium switched off a package that had been continuously watching the Sun from the International Space Station for nine years.

'Solar' has been measuring most of the radiation emitted by our closest star across the electromagnetic spectrum. Built to run for only 18 months, it was still working until today exceeding all expectations.

Solar's observations are improving our understanding of the Sun and allowing scientists to create accurate computer models and predict its behaviour.

To predict how the Sun behaves, scientists create complex computer models to build a virtual star. With more observations, scientists can fine-tune their models. Modelling and predicting the Sun's activity with precision is an important step towards understanding humankind's effect on Earth's climate.

Between 2012 and 2016, the Space Station turned itself five times to position Solar so that it could track the Sun without interruption for a complete solar day around a month of Earth days.

It was the first time the Station changed attitude for scientific reasons alone and a huge achievement it's not every day that you move a 450 tonne orbital outpost.

Today, Solar was moved to a parked position where it was secured with a pin. Even during its last days, Solar was delivering important data.

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The teams at the control centre in Brussels, Belgium, used the final moments to stress the hardware to its limits and gain a better understanding of how the observations have been affected by age and the intense changes in temperature it endures outside the Station. Using this extra information, researchers are developing software that will improve calibration of parts of the data.

ESA's project leader, Astrid Orr, comments, "After all these years of gaining valuable information about our Sun it is an emotional moment for the team, but Solar has far exceeded everyone's expectations."

"This kind of research does not deliver pretty pictures, but numbers. I tip my hat to the researchers who patiently sort through the wealth of data this field of science may seem tedious and unexciting to the outside world, but climate studies heavily rely on these data to understand the world we live in and how we are shaping it."

Explore further: International Space Station salutes the Sun

The distribution of normal matter precisely determines gravitational acceleration in all common types of galaxies, a team led by Case Western Reserve University researchers reports.

NASA's Dawn spacecraft recently detected organic-rich areas on Ceres. Scientists evaluated the geology of the regions to conclude that the organics are most likely native to the dwarf planet. Data from the spacecraft suggest ...

War correspondent, statesman, astronomer. Stargazing may not be what Winston Churchill is best remembered for, but a treatise he wrote on extraterrestrial life has revealed his scientific acumen six decades later.

(Phys.org)Astronomers have detected four faint, polarized flares at 154 MHz from the nearby variable star UV Ceti. The newly observed flares are much fainter than most flares found at these frequencies. The findings were ...

NASA is inviting the public to help search for possible undiscovered worlds in the outer reaches of our solar system and in neighboring interstellar space. A new website, called Backyard Worlds: Planet 9, lets everyone participate ...

Using a novel method and data from the Gaia space telescope, astronomers from the University of Toronto have estimated that the speed of the Sun as it orbits the centre of the Milky Way Galaxy is approximately 240 kilometres ...

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Government watchdog says SpaceX, Boeing delays could imperil NASA’s presence on the space station – Washington Post

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The two contractors that NASA has hired to build new spacecrafts to fly astronauts to the International Space Station could face further delays that push certification of their vehicles to 2019, two years behind schedule, according to a report issued Thursday by government investigators.

If that happens, NASA might be stranded, with no way to get its astronauts to the International Space Station, the Government Accountability Office said.

In 2014, NASA awarded contracts to Boeing and SpaceX to develop vehicles that could restore the agency'sability to put human in space afterthe space shuttle was retired in 2011. Under the Commercial Crew program, Boeing was awarded $4.2 billion; SpaceX $2.6 billion.

Since the shuttle was mothballed, NASA has had to rely on Russia to fly its astronauts to the station, an orbiting laboratory some 240 miles above Earth. NASA currently has bought seats with Russia through 2018, the report said. But there could be a problem if Boeing and SpaceX face further delays because it typically takes three years to procure seats from Russia, the report said.

In order to avoid a potential crew transportation gap in 2019, the contracting process would have needed to start in early 2016, the GAO said.

It added that if NASA does not develop a viable contingency plan for ensuring access to the ISS in the event of further Commercial Crew delays, it risks not being able to maximize the return on its multibillion dollar investment in the space station.

Relying on Russia has come at considerable cost for NASAand for a country that won the Apollo-era space race to the moon.

Last year, a report issued by NASAs Inspector General found the cost Russia charges jumped from $21.3 million in 2006 to $81.9 million in 2015.

In its report, the GAO said that in 2015, SpaceX identified cracks in the turbines of its engine. NASA informed SpaceX that the cracks amount to an unacceptable risk for human spaceflight, the GAO said. SpaceX officials told us that they are working closely with NASA to eliminate these cracks in order to meet NASAs stringent targets for human rating.

The GAO said that SpaceXs biggest risks stem from the fact that it is constantly upgrading its rocket to make it more efficient and robust. The GAO said there may not be enough time for SpaceX to implement these changes and get them approved prior to the first uncrewed flight test in November 2017.

The company has already had two catastrophic failures of its Falcon 9, the rocket that it would use to fly astronauts to the station. In 2015, a Falcon 9 exploded while it was carrying cargobut no crewto the station. Then last September, another one blew up while it was being fueled on a Cape Canaveral launch pad ahead of an engine test fire.

The company has since returned to flight, and plans to launch another cargo mission to the station Saturday.

Unlike other rockets, which are fueled before astronauts board, SpaceX plans to fuel the rocket while they are in the vehicle. And that, the GAO said, is another potential safety risk.

SpaceX did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The risks with Boeings offeringa Starliner capsule that would launch aboard an Atlas V rocketare related to the rockets Russian-made engine. While the rocket is viewed as highly reliable and has been certified by the Pentagon to launch national security satellites, it hasnt yet been certified by NASA to fly humans.

But getting the data needed to make that certification has been difficult because it is highly restricted by agreements between the U.S. and Russian governments.

Boeing said that the United Launch Alliance, which makes the Atlas V, will provide NASA with complete insight into the RD-180 engines.

It also said that, providing astronauts with safe crew transportation to and from the International Space Station is our first and most important priority. Both companies have made significant progress on their launch sites. Boeing recently showed off the Cape Canaveral launch pad it renovated for the program. And on Saturday, SpaceX plans to launch from pad 39A, the historic site that hosted many of the Apollo and shuttle launches.

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Government watchdog says SpaceX, Boeing delays could imperil NASA's presence on the space station - Washington Post

Knox Co. students’ experiment headed to space station – WBIR.com

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Feb. 15, 2017: A team of students from Bearden Elementary entered and won the Student Spaceflight Experiments Program. Now, their test will be performed by astronauts on the International Space Station.

Michael Crowe, WBIR 7:26 PM. EST February 15, 2017

Riley Speas holds a replica of the test tube that will be sent to the International Space Station. (Photo: WBIR)

A group of Knox County students is preparing for an out of this world experience this weekend.

A team of students fro Bearden Elementary entered and won the Student Spaceflight Experiments Program. Now, their experiment on the effect of microgravity on the efficacy of antibiotics on a strain of the pink eye virus will be performed by astronauts on the International Space Station.

Students from Bearden Middle work on their experiment. (Photo: WBIR)

On the ISS, bacteria spreads much quicker because you cant use water, and its a lot harder to clean things, said Alex Hoffman, and eighth-grader at Bearden who worked on the project.

The group hopes their test could help solve one of the big problems of long-haul space travel the spread of germs on a sealed spacecraft.

Many of them could be close quarters disease that could spread really fast, said Riley Speas, another eighth-grader in the group. So to have an experiment that might help humans get to Mars faster is really exciting to think about.

Riley Speas is one of several Bearden Middle School students headed to Florida this weekend to watch their experiment launch for the ISS. (Photo: WBIR)

The students will travel to Florida this weekend for the SpaceX rocket launch, which is slated for Feb. 18. The launch has been delayed several times from August 2016.

The International Space Station. (Photo: WBIR)

The group also includes students from Vine Middle and Halls. Halls won second place, but their project will not go to space.

The Vine teams project was selected for a later launch, scheduled in June. That group is led by Melody Hawkins, an 8th grade science teacher at Vine.

Its truly a once in a lifetime opportunity for our students, she said. Im excited to see that maybe it will create a love or new passion for science they didnt have before.

The Vine experiment involved separating blue-green algae from water which could help advance water purification technology.

We focus a lot on standards, that definitely is our education model, standards based, but this gave us an opportunity to take the standard that were working on in the classroom, and extend it out into things that happen in the real world," Hawkins said.

When they found their project had been selected it was a huge surprise.

A group of students from Vine Middle School work on their experiment, which is slated to be sent to the ISS in June. (Photo: WBIR)

She passed out, laughed Sude Buyuktazeler, gesturing at Shukurani Cimpaye.

"I literally jumped out of my seat and started jumping, it was so exciting, she added.

And the educators are happy to have students taking a hands-on role in their education designing experiments and proposals that could further the future of space travel before they can drive here on earth.

It feels really, really cool because a lot of people, they don't get to help with stuff and theyre adults, said Speas. So being the age I am it's like, Woah, it's pretty awesome that I'm affecting the course of history almost.' It's pretty cool."

( 2017 WBIR)

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Knox Co. students' experiment headed to space station - WBIR.com

Interactive guide gives you taste of life on the International Space Station – The Corner News (blog)

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Have you ever wanted to take a trip to the International Space Station without going through all the invasive medical tests, rigorous astronaut training, and excessive consumption of tang? Well, now you can. All you need is a computer and internet connection.

The Beacon has created an interact guide giving you a glimpse of life on board the International Space Station. The guide includes the space stations many modules as well as a timeline for when the modules were added to the Station. The guide also shows the many activities one might enjoy on the Station (when you arent busy doing the mannequin challenge, of course).

Have you ever wondered where an astronaut sleeps? Check out the crew quarters. How they exercise? The Cevis and The Colbert are two state-of-the-art exercise machines designed to keep the ISS inhabitant health and strong. Maybe youre wondering how an astronaut uses the restroom. Well thats a bit weird, but hey, that information is there too. Heres a hint, it involves a suction system. You know, the same type of suction system we use here on Earth.

Launched into orbit in 1998, the International Space Station is the largest artificial body in orbit around the Earth. According to NASA.gov, the ISS measures 357 feet end-to-end which is as large as a standard football field. An international partnership of space agencies maintains and operates the ISS. The United States, Russia, Europe, Japan, and Canada have all participate in the upkeep of the station.

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Prey puts the fun back into fighting for your life on a space station … – The Verge

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When it comes to basic sci-fi setups, nobody would ever accuse fighting for your life on a space station thats been taken over by aliens of being particularly fresh. Whether youre talking about movies, books, or games, its the kind of premise that serves as sturdy scaffolding a framework on which to hang what are (hopefully) much more interesting ideas and interactions. So when I sat down to preview the first hour of Prey, Arkane Studios upcoming reboot of the mid-aughts shooter, I didnt quite know what to expect. What I found was a first-person action game, with some solid role-playing elements, set off by some creative narrative twists. Well, enough twists for the first hour, at least.

To start off, Prey has nothing to do whatsoever with the original game, or its canceled sequel. When asked by journalists why the game has the title it does given the utter lack of connective tissue, lead designer Ricardo Bare was honest: "Because Prey is a really good name for a game." This version takes place in the year 2032, in an alternate reality timeline where the player takes on the role of Morgan Yu. (Players can select either a male or female version of the character; I went with the latter.)

When the game begins, Morgan is preparing to undergo some strange psychological and behavioral tests at the behest of her brother, Alex. Everything seems to be going fairly smoothly until an alien creature attacks one of the doctors. Soon, Morgan finds herself on the space station Talos I, which has been completely overrun by a shape-shifting alien species called the Typhon. It turns out that Morgans been the subject of these mysterious experiments far longer than she realizes, and has suffered massive holes in her memory as a result. She begins chasing down the clues and videos that shes left for herself in order to understand whats going on and, one assumes, to eventually stop the Typhon.

This isnt a horror title; its an action game

Despite the look of some of the early footage, Prey isnt a horror title; its an action game, though it does utilize handy jump scares from time to time as random objects suddenly morph into the scurrying, multi-legged Typhon for an attack. It has a semi-open-world feel, allowing players to explore the space station largely at will. Most obstacles in the game offer multiple solutions. A locked door can be accessed by finding a keycard, for example, or by exploring an alternate route to circumvent the issue altogether.

The role-playing side of things comes into play with what Prey calls neuromods. In the game, humans are able to give themselves enhanced skills by collecting what are essentially cybernetic implants. They cover a trio of skills sets hacking, engineering, and combat with branching skill trees for each discipline letting users shape their character as they see fit. Its another way in which Prey lets players solve problems in multiple ways. I unlocked a pesky door by upgrading my hacking abilities. A hard-to-reach second floor in an atrium could have been reached by upgrading ones engineering skills to repair the lift, or by creating a makeshift platform using a weapon that shoots rapidly hardening foam. (According to Bare, theres an elaborate crafting system in the game as well, though it never came up during my hour of gameplay.)

While the notion of an overrun space station isnt particularly novel, Prey does stand out by creating a world with some beautiful aesthetics that look both believably near-future, and lived in. According to the games backstory, the Talos I started as a government space station in the 60s before being taken over by a private company in 2030, and the design melds the design language of 1960s science fiction large, magnetic tape storage systems and retro hardware litter the place with the kind of wood panelling and gold trim youd expect from a gaudy hotel.

The first hour is filled with its share of plot twists and turns

In terms of sheer gameplay, nothing about Prey was particularly mind-blowing in the time I spent with the game. Its using concepts weve seen before, put together in combinations weve seen before. But theres a polish to the whole thing that makes it undeniably fun on the most basic level; the kind of game that you can just pick up and dive into with total and complete familiarity right at the top. But much like the premise itself, that easygoing gameplay feels like its there to set up some larger aspirations: the ideas behind the narrative itself.

Ive been trying to stay away from too many plot specifics, because the first hour of Prey turns out to be filled with more than its fair share of twists and turns and one of the early reveals was one of my favorite moments of the game. Its safe to say that there is an overarching mystery, and its not really about the alien creatures at all. Its about Morgan Yu herself, with the player thrown into the role of a character who cant trust her own memory or perception of reality. She ends up relying on clues she has left for herself, a kind of unreliable narrator that adds a Memento-esque twist to the fighting, exploring, and side missioning.

Arkane has also made a point of noting that players can choose either male or female versions of the lead character. Morgan was picked as the characters name precisely because it was gender neutral, and in terms of representation, the move is to be applauded. However, despite that choice, Bare says that swapping gender roles doesnt actually change the story in any appreciable way. Different pronouns are used when characters address Morgan, and family photos that appear in the game reflect the players choice. But other than that, theres nothing about the ways in which characters interact with Morgan that shifts. For a game that is purportedly about identity, it seems like it could end up being a missed opportunity particularly given that Bare says the story can be impacted by the ways in which the player interacts with various survivors they come into contact with.

Of course, depending on how the mysteries of Prey play out, that issue may not be as problematic as it seems at first. And thats assuming the narrative actually continues to fire throughout the entirety of the game in the first place. Bare says the average time to finish has been running between 14 to 16 hours, though some players have needed 20 hours or more, and that could end up being a lot of mystery to string out depending on how engaging the pure gameplay is unto itself. No matter what happens on that front, however, one things for certain: its certainly going to look glorious.

Prey is scheduled for release on May 5th for PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One.

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Prey puts the fun back into fighting for your life on a space station ... - The Verge

UF researchers to send plants to the International Space Station – The Independent Florida Alligator

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UF researchers will launch seeds into space to prepare for the future of space travel and Earths changing environment Friday.

The researchers will be conduct- ing the first experiment on plants epigenetics, or how the environment in space modifies plants DNA, said Collin LeFrois, a second-year UF doctoral student working with the researchers. Studying plants in space will help researchers understand how they grow while Earths environment changes.

The important thing is that this is kind of the first experiment of its kind, LeFrois said. No one has really looked at epigenetics in space-flight in any system.

Once the seeds of the arabidopsis, a plant in the mustard family, reach the International Space Station, astronauts will plant them in a growth hardware machine and take photos

of their growth for 11 days. Then, the plants will return to Earth to be studied at the UF Space Plants Lab, said Anna-Lisa Paul, the co-principal investigator with the lab.

UF researchers have sent plants into space six other times, Paul said. Studying plants reactions to space is important because as carbon dioxide levels and pollutants increase on Earth, it becomes more stressful for plants to grow, she said.

Paul said she knows humans arent going to be on Earth forever.

Even if it means short exploration trips to Mars or to the moon, we are going to need to bring plants with us. Its what we do, she said.

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UF researchers to send plants to the International Space Station - The Independent Florida Alligator

Cargo manifest for SpaceX’s 10th space station resupply mission – Spaceflight Now

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File photo of a Dragon supply ship berthed at the International Space Station. Credit: NASA

The 10th dedicated cargo delivery mission by SpaceXs Dragon spacecraft, and the first to liftoff from launch pad 39A at NASAs Kennedy Space Center, will carry more than 5,000 pounds of equipment to the International Space Station.

The spacecraft is set for launch no earlier than Saturday, Feb. 18, and should reach the space station Monday, Feb. 20. A Falcon 9 rocket will send the Dragon cargo carrier into orbit for the two-day transit to the research outpost.

SpaceX has launched nine resupply missions to the space station to date, including one cargo capsule lost in a launch failure. One more Dragon spacecraft flew to the space station in May 2012 on a demonstration mission.

In addition to more than 3,000 pounds of cargo inside Dragons pressurized cabin, the spacecrafts external trunk is packed with two experiment packages to be mounted outside the space station by the robotic arm.

One of the instruments, NASAsStratospheric Aerosol and Gas Experiment 3, will study ozone and aerosol tiny particles in the atmosphere from an observing post on one of the space stations external payload platforms.

Another unpressurized payload is sponsored by the U.S. militarys Space Test Program, hosting a suite of 13 experiments for the Defense Department and NASA.

Among STP-H5s investigations: NASAs Raven autonomous space navigation demonstration designed to support future satellite servicing missions, NASAs Lightning Imaging Sensor, NASAs SpaceCube-Mini miniaturized computer processor, the Air Forces Spacecraft Structural Health Monitoring payload to capture how fasteners, glue and mechanical parts respond to the harsh environment of space, the Air ForcesRadiation Hardened Electronic Memory Experiment, and two Naval Research Laboratory payloads intended to study the structure, composition and density of the upper atmosphere and ionosphere.

NASA has provided a breakdown of the cargo manifest listed below.

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Trump space advisors considering Hubble servicing mission – SpaceFlight Insider

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Bart Leahy

February 16th, 2017

The Hubble Space Telescope as seen by the departing STS-125 crew after a week servicing the observatory in 2009. Photo Credit: NASA

The Wall Street Journal reports that Trump administrationadvisers are considering a public-private crewed mission aboard the Sierra Nevada Corporation (SNC)Dream Chaser spacecraft to keep the aging Hubble Space Telescope (HST) operational. The proposed mission, which would not happen before 2019, would require support from the next NASA administrator.

The crew variant of Dream Chaser. Image Credit: Sierra Nevada Corporation

The Journal suggested the mission would align well with the Trump administrations desire to advance public-private partnerships while also advancingmissions that could be accomplished within the presidents current four-year term.

According to the Journal story, Mark Sirangelo, head of SNCs space systems unit, told a conference last week that Dream Chaser could be used as an exploration vehicle, a free-flight science laboratory and a servicing vehicle for in-orbit satellites and spacecraft. Additionally, an SNC representative stated that Dream Chaser was designed from the beginning to be a multi-mission orbital transportation system eventually targeting servicing, repair and assembly of technology in space.

The Journal story also stated that updatingHubblewould require relatively few additional dollars because the telescope has a modular design and Dream Chasers cargo variant already is undergoing flight tests. The vehicle would need additional life-support systems as well as a launch abort system designed to protect the crew in the event of an explosion or serious problem on the pad or during early phases of its ascent.

However, before Dream Chaser can be sent to chase Hubble in its 335-mile (539-kilometer) orbit, it first has to fly into space.

SNC is still conducting development and testing activities on the spacecraft at NASA Armstrong Flight Research Center in California as part of its Commercial Resupply Services contract. Another glide test of the vehicle is scheduled for spring 2017, with the first cargo launch to the International Space Station scheduled for sometime in 2019.

Having launched aboard the Space Shuttle Discovery on STS-31 in 1990, Hubbles primary mirror was discovered to have improperly manufactured optics, requiring its first servicing mission. That mission,STS-61, launched aboard Shuttle Endeavor in 1993. It corrected the optics and installed additional instruments to support the telescopes science mission.

Hubble Space Telescope being lifted from the payload bay of Atlantis following repairs during STS-125. Photo Credit: NASA

Four subsequent missions in 1997, 1999, 2002, and 2009 replaced items such as spectrographs, thermal insulation, gyroscopes, batteries, computers, and other components.

With these repairs, James Jeletic, deputy project manager of Hubble operations at NASAs Goddard Space Flight Center, told CBS News in 2013 that he believed Hubble could operate up to 2020.

Without a reboost, Hubblewill re-enter Earths atmosphere sometime between 2030 and 2040.

Dream Chasers availability aside, the question remains: Is a sixth mission to Hubble a good investment of NASAs time and limited budget?

Jim Muncy, a long-time space lobbyist with PoliSpace and senior adviser to the Commercial Spaceflight Federation, told Spaceflight Insider:

I think the concept of using a commercial crewed vehicle to service Hubble makes a lot of sense. Its good to see SNC thinking creatively they have always talked about DreamChaser as a platform as well as a crew/cargo transporter, so this makes sense. Its not clear to me whether or not a Dragon or Starliner could carry out the same sort of mission.The SNCs cargo variants expendable mission module could make for a great airlock to allow crew to egress.But none of these vehicles have an arm for grappling Hubble [] so youd have to do some interesting EVA work to tether them together.

When asked if Hubbles role could be supplemented by existing ground-based telescopes, Dr. Tom Brown, Mission Head of the Hubble Space Telescope, told Spaceflight Insider:

Hubble is currently performing well, and it provides unique capabilities that are not achievable from any ground facility in existence or planned (e.g., ultraviolet imaging and spectroscopy, high-resolution optical imaging with low backgrounds).We expect Hubble to provide these capabilities for at least a few years of overlap with the upcoming mission of the James Webb Space Telescope, launching in late 2018. Beyond that, the Space Telescope Science Institute has no official position regarding the servicing of Hubble to extend its lifetime.

Dr. Garth Illingworth, an astronomer at the Lick Observatory, has used Hubble to study the formation of galaxies. Regardingthe potential worth of a Hubble servicing mission. Dr. Illingworthtold Spaceflight Insider:

The question of the worth of another servicing mission hinges on a careful evaluation of the capabilities of the upcomingWFIRST[Wide Field Infrared Survey Telescope] Hubble-like telescope (similar in size) and on what we would do differently with Hubble. I have heard some interesting ideas for instruments that would be great to have on Hubble. While I might love to have Hubble serviced again, one needs a hard-nosed evaluation of the science that would be gained to decide if it is worth the cost.

What we would try to do in space for astrophysics depends a lot of what is judged to lead to the most interesting scientific results. This is always a topic of much discussion among scientists. And ultimately we look to the Decadal Survey to establish our priorities.

While JWST is not serviceable, we expect that most future telescopes will be potentially serviceable. Current plans are to make WFIRST serviceable []. And larger future telescopes beyond will surely be serviceableand maybe even will be assembled and tested in space by astronauts and robotic capability.

The James WebbSpace Telescope (JWST), Hubbles designated successor observatory, is scheduled to launch to the Earth-Sun L2 Lagrange point aboard an Ariane 5 rocket in 2018. One argument for updating Hubble is that could serve as a backup space telescope in case JWST suffers a failure of some kind.

As Illingworth noted, unlike Hubble, JWSTis not designed to be serviced in space.Lynn Chandler with NASAs JWST Communications group told Spaceflight Insider,

In the early days of the Webb project, studies were conducted to evaluate the benefits, practicality and cost of servicing Webb either by human space flight, by robotic missions, or by some combination such as retrieval to low-Earth orbit. Those studies concluded that the potential benefits of servicing do not offset the increases in mission complexity, mass and cost that would be required to make Webb serviceable, or to conduct the servicing mission itself.

Whether NASA decides to pursue this commercial Hubble servicing mission will be up to the next agency administrator. As with any new presidential administration, the answer, for now, is wait and see.

Tagged: Dream Chaser Hubble Space Telescope James Webb Space Telescope Lead Stories NASA Sierra Nevada Corporation

Bart Leahy is a freelance technical writer living in Orlando, Florida. Leahy's diverse career has included work for The Walt Disney Company, NASA, the Department of Defense, Nissan, a number of commercial space companies, small businesses, nonprofits, as well as the Science Cheerleaders.

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Weather could stand in way of Falcon 9 launch Saturday – Spaceflight Now

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File photo of a Falcon 9 rocket inside a SpaceX hangar at Cape Canaveral. Credit: SpaceX

Rainy weather expected across Central Florida this weekend has a 50-50 chance of preventing the launch of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket Saturday on a resupply mission to the International Space Station, U.S. Air Force forecasters said Wednesday.

The official weather outlook issued by the Air Forces 45th Weather Squadron calls for thick clouds and isolated rain showers at Cape Canaveral during Saturdays launch countdown.

Liftoff is timed for 10:01 a.m. EST (1501 GMT), roughly the moment the space stations orbital path is positioned above Floridas Space Coast.

But meteorologists are tracking a upper-level trough expected to strengthen over the Gulf of Mexico on Friday.

On Saturday, this upper-level trough will migrate east, bringing the clouds and rain over the Florida peninsula, the Air Force weather team wrote in Wednesdays forecast. The clouds and rain will gradually increase through the countdown and be entrenched over the spaceport by midday. The primary weather concern for launch Saturday is the thick cloud cover and rain showers associated with the upper-level trough.

There is a 50 percent chance the weather conditions will violate one of the Falcon 9s launch rules.

The outlook calls for mostly cloudy skies, isolated rain showers, southeast winds of 10 to 15 mph, and a temperature of 70 degrees Fahrenheit.

If the launch is delayed to Sunday, the weather should improve, with a 70 percent chance of acceptable conditions.

On Sunday, the cloudiness and rain associated with the upper-level trough will continue to slowly move east, diminishing through the countdown, forecasters wrote. The main weather concern will be cumulus clouds associated with lingering instability.

The 213-foot-tall Falcon 9 rocket will take off from launch pad 39A at NASAs Kennedy Space Center, a complex just inland from the beach originally constructed for Saturn 5 moon rockets in the 1960s and modified in the late 1970s to support space shuttle flights.

SpaceX signed a 20-year lease for the launch pad in 2014, and the company has temporarily transferred all of its Florida launches to pad 39A while workers repair damage to nearby pad 40 after a rocket exploded there in September.

Crews finished modifications and testing of the historic Apollo-era launch pad with a fueling and hotfire test of the Falcon 9s first stage engines Sunday. The successful test verified the new RP-1 and liquid oxygen fueling system installed by SpaceX at pad 39A.

Technicians rolled the rocket back inside SpaceXs hangar at the southern perimeter of the launch facility for attachment of the Dragon cargo capsule loaded with supplies for the space station and its six-person crew, including a lightning imager and an instrument to monitor the health of the atmospheres ozone layer.

The Dragon supply ship will carry 5,266 pounds (2,389 kilograms) of cargo on SpaceXs 10th logistics launch to the orbiting research outpost. If the mission takes off as scheduled Saturday, the cargo carrier will reach the space station Monday, with grapple by the robotic arm expected around 9 a.m. EST (1400 GMT).

SpaceX has two cargo transportation contracts with NASA for at least 26 space station supply shipments through 2024.

The rocket is expected to return to the pad this week, riding a new transporter-erector that will hoist the Falcon 9 vertical on the launch mount over the flame trench.

After liftoff, the Falcon 9s first stage will return to Cape Canaveral from the edge of space, targeting a rocket-assisted vertical touchdown at SpaceXs Landing Zone 1 about 9 miles (15 kilometers) south of pad 39A. The recovery would mark the third time a Falcon 9 booster stage has landed at Cape Canaveral, and the first time in daylight.

Final regulatory approval for the launch and landing from the Federal Aviation Administration is still pending.

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Follow Stephen Clark on Twitter: @StephenClark1.

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Weather could stand in way of Falcon 9 launch Saturday - Spaceflight Now

Georgia Space Flight Act passes in the House, closer to bringing jobs to Camden County – Firstcoastnews.com

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First Coast News , WTLV 3:09 PM. EST February 16, 2017

Georgia Capitol Building (Photo: FCN)

The Georgia House of Representatives passed a bill 162-5 that would define procedures for space flight in Georgia, as well as bring jobs to the state.

HB1, the Georgia Space Flight Act, is sponsored by Georgia Representative Jason Spencer (R-Woodbine). It would limit a "willing participant's" ability to sue for damages relating to space flight activities, as well as require the participant to give informed consent.

Proponents of the bill also say it will bring jobs to the state.

"Today's passage of HB1 sends a clear message to the commercial space industry that Georgia is serious about bringing much needed high-tech jobs to our state," said Rep. Spencer. "Georgia and Camden County are becoming well positioned as an attractive hub for the (space) industry's future business activities and operations, bringing significant economic and inspirational benefits to the citizens of Georgia."

The commercial space industry continues to grow from its current base of $330 billion per year, Spencer says.

( 2017 WTLV)

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Georgia Space Flight Act passes in the House, closer to bringing jobs to Camden County - Firstcoastnews.com

Potential Landing Sites for Mars 2020 Narrowed Down to Three – SpaceFlight Insider

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Paul Knightly

February 16th, 2017

Three potential landing sites for NASAs Mars 2020 rover. Image Credit: NASA

The number of potential landing sites for the Mars 2020 rover has been narrowed down to three, from a list of eight, following a conference of scientists last week. The top three landing sites that were selected were in Northeast Syrtis Major, Jezero Crater, and the Columbia Hills in Gusev Crater. The landing sites in the Columbia Hills and Syrtis Major display evidence of geothermal and mineral hot springs that could have been conducive to hosting primitive life, and Jerezo Crater shows evidence that it was once a lake of liquid water.

This image lies in the middle of a candidate landing site in the Northeast part of Syrtis Major, a huge shield volcano, and near the Northwest rim of Isidis Planitia, a giant impact basin. Image & Caption Credit: NASA / JPL-CALTECH / MSSS / JHU-APL

Northeast Syrtis Major was once influenced by volcanic activity that warmed underground sources of water ice that reached the surface as mineral hot springs. These hot springs could have hosted microbial life similar to organisms that have been found in similar environments on Earth. The area also displays layered terrain that holds a record of the interactions between water and minerals throughout early Martian history.

On ancient Mars, water-carved channels and transported sediments to form fans and deltas within lake basins. Examination of spectral data acquired from orbit shows that some of these sediments have minerals that indicate chemical alteration by water. Here in Jezero Crater delta, sediments contain clays and carbonates. The image combines information from two instruments on NASAs Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter: the Compact Reconnaissance Imaging Spectrometer for Mars and the Context Camera. (Reference: Ehlmann et al. 2008.) Image & Caption Credit: NASA / JPL-CALTECH / MSSS / JHU-APL

Jezero Crater is an example of the on-again/off-again nature of liquid water on Mars. There is evidence that the crater was filled and drained of water on at least two different occasions around 3.5 billion years ago. Channels can be seen leading into and out of the crater, and there is spectral evidence that suggests clay minerals were formed and deposited as sediment in the lake. These clay minerals are similar to the sediments being examined by the Curiosityrover in Gale Crater and could have played host to microbial life.

This approximate true-color image taken by the Mars Exploration Rover Spirit shows a rock outcrop dubbed Longhorn, and behind it, the sweeping plains of Gusev Crater. On the horizon, the rim of Gusev Crater is clearly visible. The view is to the south of the rovers current position. The image consists of four frames taken by the 750-, 530- and 430-nanometer filters of Spirits panoramic camera on sol 210 (August 5, 2004). Image & Caption Credit: NASA / JPL-CALTECH / MSSS / JHU-APL

The Columbia Hills were famously explored by the Mars Exploration Rover (MER) Spirit between 20032010 where it discovered evidence the area once hosted a hot spring with liquid water similar in composition to hot springs found on Earth. If selected as the final landing site, the Mars 2020 rover would further inspect hot spring sediments to investigate their potential to host life. Mars 2020 will also revisit an outcrop that was visited by Spirit which in a recent analysis by scientists was thought to resemble a fossilized mat of microbial organisms that have been found in similar hot spring sediments on Earth. This particular outcrop represents the strongest evidence for fossilized life to have been found on the Martian surface to date.

The Mars 2020 rover is designed to address several key scientific objectives and the effectiveness of the potential landing sites to meet those objectives factored into the selection of the final three landing sites. Those objectives are the following:

Additionally, the Mars 2020 landing site must also meet the following criteria:

The three finalist landing sites were selected from an original list of 8 which also included Eberswalde Crater, Holden Crater, Mawrth Vallis, Nili Fossae, and Southwest Melas Chasma. The rover is currently under development and is similar in construction and function to Curiosity and is targeted to launch during the summer of 2020 and landing on Mars in early 2021.

Tagged: Mars Mars 2020 NASA The Range

Paul is currently a graduate student in Space and Planetary Sciences at the University of Akransas in Fayetteville. He grew up in the Kansas City area and developed an interest in space at a young age at the start of the twin Mars Exploration Rover missions in 2003. He began his studies in aerospace engineering before switching over to geology at Wichita State University where he earned a Bachelor of Science in 2013. After working as an environmental geologist for a civil engineering firm, he began his graduate studies in 2016 and is actively working towards a PhD that will focus on the surficial processes of Mars. He also participated in a 2-week simluation at The Mars Society's Mars Desert Research Station in 2014 and remains involved in analogue mission studies today. Paul has been interested in science outreach and communication over the years which in the past included maintaining a personal blog on space exploration from high school through his undergraduate career and in recent years he has given talks at schools and other organizations over the topics of geology and space. He is excited to bring his experience as a geologist and scientist to the Spaceflight Insider team writing primarily on space science topics.

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104-satellite launch marks success for India (and Seattle’s Spaceflight Industries) – GeekWire

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Indias Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle lifts off from the Satish Dhawan Space Center on the coast of the Bay of Bengal, sending 104 satellites spaceward. (ISRO Photo)

A record-setting flock of 104 satellites was successfully deployed into orbit overnight after the launch of an Indian rocket. Seattle-based Spaceflight Industries played a part in getting nine of those satellites where they needed to go.

Indias Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle, or PSLV, lifted off from the Satish Dhawan Space Center at Sriharikota at 9:28 a.m. local time today (7:58 p.m. PT Tuesday).

The missions main payload was the Indian Space Research Organizations Cartosat 2D, a car-sized satellite designed for environmental mapping. Another 88 Dove nanosatellites, each about the size of a toaster oven, will become part of Planets Earth-observing constellation.

Eight more nanosatellites were launched for Spire Global, which is filling out a constellation to monitor weather as well as aviation and maritimetraffic. This is the second Spire PSLV mission facilitated by Spaceflight Industries, which handles launch logistics.

Spaceflight also arranged to get Israel Aerospace Industries BGUSat nanosatellite on the flight. BGUSat is a research spacecraft built by students at Ben Gurion University to perform cloud imaging and measure atmospheric background radiation.

Sixmore research satellites rounded out the flock, which represented the highest number of satellites launched on a single rocket. ISRO said all 104 satellites were successfully deployed into pole-to-pole orbits within a half-hour after launch.

The mission marked a numerical milestone for Spaceflight Industries as well as for Indias space effort.

Weve hit (and passed) the 100-satellite milestone, Spaceflight said in a pre-launch blog posting. With this launch, weve sent103 satellites to space since our first one in 2013. The team at Spaceflight is proud of this achievement, and to be part of enabling the growth of commercial enterprises and new science missions in space.

In addition to launch logistics, Spaceflight is building its own spacecraft for its BlackSky Earth-observing constellation. Its first BlackSky Pathfinder satellite was launched on a PSLV rocket last September, and the second Pathfinder is due to be sent into orbit later this year.

Eventually, Spaceflights BlackSky subsidiary aims to have 60 satellites sending down on-demand imagery from low Earth orbit.

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104-satellite launch marks success for India (and Seattle's Spaceflight Industries) - GeekWire

Try To Survive A Doomed Space Flight In ‘Homebound’ – Tom’s Hardware

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Quixel, a studio most recognized for its hand in developing graphics technologies for game franchises such as Battlefield, Destiny, Doom, Starcraft, and Dark Souls, has announced that its debut VR title is now available on Steam for the Oculus Rift and HTC Vive.

Have you ever wondered what it would be like to plummet to the earth in a failing spacecraft? Homebound is your (one-way) ticket to exactly that, as you become a lone astronaut struggling to survive a disaster as your ship hurdles out of control towards the planet.

As an increasingly sinister-sounding computer AI guides you through the ship, youll start with menial tasks that allow you to explore the spacecraft and experience the joy of weightlessness (and ruffled potato chips). The mood will start to get creepy as you discover more of your environment, with the trailer implying that there is more to your mission than just being a good astronaut. Youll inevitably press a stereotypical big red button, at which point things take an intense turn for the worse, as explosions tear through the ship and send it crashing towards Earth. (Get it? Homebound!)

Homebound was created using Quixel Suite, the texturing toolkit used in many of the aforementioned AAA game titles. The engine purportedly offers increased visual fidelity, with the company claiming its Megascans technology delivers the most believable surfaces to date in VR. Whether that's true or not, you'll need significant horsepower under the hood to meet Homebound's recommended specs, which calls for a GTX 980ti and an Intel Core i7 processor. Windows 10 is also preferred, with the spec list suggesting DirectX 12 as the recommended API.

You can download Homebound now from Steam, for a limited-time price of $7. The promotion ends on February 23, when the game returns to its full price of $9.

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The World’s First Floating City Is Set To Be Unveiled In 2020 – PSFK (subscription)

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The project was conceptualized by a team of San Francisco-based marine biologists and nautical engineers

The government of French Polynesia has signed a memorandum allowing the worlds first floating city to be constructed in the open waters near the south Pacific Islands. The architectural endeavor is being undertaken by Seasteading Institute, a San Francisco-based collective of credentialed marine biologists, nautical engineers, aquaculture farmers, researchers, environmentalists and artists.

Randolph Hencken, Executive Director of the Seasteading Institute, hopes to have the community built and inhabited by 2020. Prior to its completion, a few logistical details still need to be worked out, however, such as how to deal with the harsh realities of oceanic temperament to how this type of society can integrate into the global political spectrum.

In addition to being an architectural world first, the oceanic project will give Hencken and his team an opportunity to experiment with new types of governments and societies possible using this utopian-like venture on the sea as a launchpad.

Seasteading Institute

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Ceres Just Got A Lot More Interesting to Astrobiologists – Air & Space Magazine

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Ahuna Mons, shown in this simulated view as it might appear to someone standing on the surface of Ceres, is thought to be an ice volcano. (NASA/JPL-Caltech/UCLA/MPS/DLR/IDA/PSI)

airspacemag.com 3 hours ago

Maria de Sanctis from the Institute of Astrophysics and Planetology in Rome and her colleagues report in todays issue of Science that theyve found organic compounds on Ceres. Whats more, the organics originated on the dwarf planet itself, rather than arriving with an impacting comet or asteroid. The findings are based on their spectral analysis of about 1,000 square kilometers close to a crater called Ernutet on the objects surface. NASAs Dawn spacecraft is currently in orbit around Ceres, the largest body in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter.

Water ice and organics were already known to be present there, but learning that they are indigenousformed most likely by hydrothermal activityis critical. When we consider that Ceres has clay minerals, carbonate rocks, and salts on or near its surface, the environment is similar to the one that prevailed on Earth some four billion years ago. In fact, organic compounds, plus energy, plus building blocks such as clay could make Ceres crust conducive to the origin of life.

Ceres appears to be a rather unique case study of a hybrid between a terrestrial planet and an icy moon, which might have been warmer and friendlier to life a long time ago. How far might chemistry have evolved toward biology before it was frozen in place? The spectral similarity of the detected organics to ones found in carbonaceous chondrites suggest that we may find some intriguingly complex molecules if we send a probe to Ceres for a closer look.

If the dwarf planet has a subsurface ocean as some have speculated, the existence of life today is not out of the question. In this scenario, hydrothermal energy would likely power volcanoes that push liquid water from deep below onto the surface of Ceres. If so, we might find molecules consistent with biology on the surface.

Since Ceres is closer than any other high-priority astrobiological target besides Mars, and is not exposed to huge radiation fluxes like Europa is, sending a lander there would be relatively quick and easy. Indeed, Ceres may very well become one of the new favorite targets for astrobiologists.

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Dirk Schulze-Makuch is a Professor at the Technical University Berlin, Germany and Adjunct Professor at Arizona State University and Washington State University. He has published seven books related to astrobiology and planetary habitability.

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Ceres Just Got A Lot More Interesting to Astrobiologists - Air & Space Magazine