"There's a lot we don't know about the workings of supermassive black holes," says Richard Mushotzky of NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md. Astronomers think the intense emission from the centers, or nuclei, of active galaxies arises near a central black hole containing more than a million times the sun's mass. "Some of these feeding black holes are the most luminous objects in the universe. Yet we don't know why the massive black hole in our own galaxy and similar objects are so dim." [More]

Pterosaurs have long suffered an identity crisis. Pop culture heedlessly -- and wrongly -- lumps these extinct flying lizards in with dinosaurs. Even paleontologists assumed that because the creatures flew, they were birdlike in many ways, such as using only two legs to take flight. Now comes what is believed to be first-time evidence that launching some 500 pounds of reptilian heft into flight required pterosaurs to use four limbs: two were ultra-strong wings which, when folded and balanced on a knuckle, served as front "legs" that helped the creature to walk -- and leap. [More]

 A NASA-funded study describes how extreme solar eruptions could have severe consequences for communications, power grids and other technology on Earth. The National Academy of Sciences in Washington conducted the study. The resulting report provides some of the first clear economic data that effectively quantifies today's risk of extreme conditions in space driven by magnetic activity on the sun and disturbances in the near-Earth environment. Instances of extreme space weather are rare and are categorized with other natural hazards that have a low frequency but high consequences. [More]

On Monday, Jan. 5, NASA issued a request for proposal for the Ares V rocket that will perform heavy lift and cargo functions as part of the next generation of spacecraft that will return humans to the moon. The request is for Phase I concept definition and requirements development for the Ares V rocket. The request for proposal defines the procurement approach for Phase I of the Ares V acquisition. The contract work will include developing products to enable NASA to successfully complete the system requirements review and system definition review, critical milestones in the development of the rocket. Completion of the system definition review will verify the design concept and demonstrate mission objectives can be met. [More]

SPACEHAB reached an agreement in principal with RSC Energia, Russia's largest manufacturer of aerospace and space equipment, to provide facilities and support services for its Mini Research Module (MRM1). The MRM1 will be readied for its journey aboard the U.S. Space Shuttle at the SPACEHAB Cape Canaveral payload processing location. Manifested to fly on STS-132 during the Space Shuttle's final mission in April 2010, the MRM1 will act as a docking port extension for the Russian Soyuz and Progress vehicles that have transported astronauts and cosmonauts. The Mini Research Module (MRM1) will provide the ISS with additional storage space and extension to the docking port. [More]

Smithsonian astronomers examined the 5 million-year-old star cluster NGC 2362 with NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope, which can detect the signatures of actively forming planets in infrared light. They found that all stars with the mass of the Sun or greater have lost their protoplanetary (planet-forming) disks. Only a few stars less massive than the Sun retain their protoplanetary disks. These disks provide the raw material for forming gas giants like Jupiter. Therefore, gas giants have to form in less than 5 million years or they probably won't form at all. [More]

NASA JSC's pressurized rover concept vehicle with a spacesuited occupant will be part of the Inaugural parade according to NASA sources. According to an internal email: "The rover is going to be programmed to turn 90 degrees and "crab walk" in front of the podium, then a suited astronaut will get out and plant or carry a US flag. The rover will then be programmed to bow. 5 or so guys from our Branch have been invited to walk alongside the Rover."

3 Jan 2009 Update: it would seem that this JSC proposal is not going to happen. For starters, the parade organizers do not allow anyone to stop in front of the Presidential reviewing stand. The rover will be in the parade it would seem but exactly what it will or will not do is still uncertain Stay tuned.