Carnival of Space 46

Sent by: Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter | From: Mars | Released: March 5, 2008 | Credit: NASA/JPL/UA

I’m lucky enough to take another turn hosting the latest Carnival of Space, a traveling showcase of space-related blog entries from across the Web. There’s a lot to see, so let’s ride.

The Lunar and Planetary Institute is announcing that its library is now microblogging on Twitter. Meanwhile, the institute’s Lunar and Planetary Science Conference wrapped up recently in Houston, and some of the coverage can be found at:

Round-up at the Lunar Corral: Ken Murphy from Out of the Cradle shares a long list of Moon-related websites he got at the same conference during a session for educators on "Reaching for the Moon.”

New Frontiers offers a take on the space elevator and a summary of this amazing contraption.

Emily Lakdawalla at the Planetary Society has created an animation of Cassini's recent flyby of Enceladus.

Over at collectSPACE, we learn how the space shuttle will return to Earth with a pallet full of history.

Centauri Dreams dreams up "If the Phone Doesn't Ring, It's Me," a whimsy based upon some of David Brin's ideas on why an extraterrestrial civilization might choose not to contact us at all.

At Bad Astronomy, Phil makes good with “Ten things you don’t know about the Milky Way Galaxy.”

astroENGINE tugs at the fabric of the cosmos again with “Artificial Cosmogenesis - Building a Virtual Universe” and “Primordial Quark Nuggets Disguised as Near Earth Asteroids?”

Colony Worlds points out that governments on Earth would be content with having their astronauts bored to death living underground than "microwaved" via solar radiation. Instead of reducing astronauts into future cave dwellers, why not enclose these future space homes within thick layers of glass and liquid water? “Aquarium Homes For Mars (And Other Radiation Worlds)”

The latest Space Feeds include a certain video posted in tribute to one of the greatest science fiction authors of our time, Sir Arthur C. Clarke, who died in his beloved Sri Lanka on March 19th, 2008 (local time).

Tim Jones at remote central has this remembrance.

And Space Transport News offers a collection of links to articles, blog postings,

and other resources concerning the author.

Can you use the STEREO spacecraft images to find exoplanets? Our intrepid Astroblogger tries to find out: “Hunting Exoplanets in Stereo”

At next big future we learn that a new room-temperature superconducting material has been fabricated by a Canadian-German team out of a silicon-hydrogen compound. With high current density these materials would enable high performance magnetic sails and the

possibility of ground launching magnetic sails. Space access could be revolutionized.

Nancy Young-Houser at A Mars Odyssey reports on a 2009 NASA mission that will focus on extraterrestrials.

Over at Why Homeschool, Henry writes about some of the exciting presentations that will be at Space Access next week, and encourages people to attend.

Ethan Siegel at Starts with a Bang, explains how we know that it did, in fact, start with a bang.

Orbiting Frog’s Robert Simpson has uploaded a Google Sky Wavelength Slider for us to try out.

In “Orbiting for Peace” FlyingSinger at Music of the Spheres reports on an international space project that includes more countries than the ISS. This "project" is based on the Orbiter space flight simulator and actually exists in cyberspace. It's one of many examples of internet communities that promote cooperation and friendship among people from all over the world who share a special interest.

At Mang’s Bat Page, we get the backstory on “Calculating Easter” and why most people have no idea just how much impact a date has had on history.

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