[ Sandy/NASAChatHost - 0 - 22:04:31 ]
Welcome to another in our series of chats with NASA Astronomer Sten Odenwald! The chat will begin at 11 am Pacific (2 pm Eastern) on Thursday, Nov. 18. Have your questions ready! Be sure to read Sten's bio at: http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/sso/team/odenwald.html

[ Sandy/NASAChatHost - 2 - 09:24:36 ]
RE: [Alex/KristieofAledoJrHighofAledoIL] We can't wait for it to start!!!
Hi Alex & Kristie!! Glad to see you in the chat room again :-) Sten won't arrive until 11 am Pacific (2 pm Eastern), which is still another 90 minutes from now. I hope you can still make it to the chat. If not, go ahead and send your questions now, and I will post them in the chat room once Sten arrives.

[ Sandy/NASAChatHost - 5 - 10:58:41 ]
RE: [Alex/KristieofAledojh] Is everyone here?????
Hey... I'm glad you two came back! Sten will be ready to answer your questions in about two minutes....

[ Sandy/NASAChatHost - 8 - 11:02:21 ]
Kristie/Alex: ARe you studying Mars in school right now?

[ Sandy/NASAChatHost - 11 - 11:05:16 ]
RE: [AlexKristie-Alex_Hutchins] Hi Sandy! Nice to see ya!
And you two also :-) Sten will be here momentarily... Is Mars a favorite subject of yours in school?

[ StenOdenwald/Astronomer - 12 - 11:05:31 ]
RE: [Kristie/Alex] How much gravity is there on mars?
Hi Kristie and Alex, Mars only has about 10 percent the mass of the earth, but because it is physically smaller ( about 1/2 the diameter of the earth) the net result is that instead of a surface acceleration of 32 feet/sec/sec you end up with about 10 feet/sec/sec. The surface gravity is about 1/3 what the earth's is.

[ StenOdenwald/Astronomer - 14 - 11:06:51 ]
RE: [AlexKristie-Alex_Hutchins] Yes,we sure are. We plan to chat all the Mars thing this year!!
Dont forget that the MArs Polar lander is landing on December 3. It even has a tiny microphone soe we can hear the winds of mars!

[ Sandy/NASAChatHost - 15 - 11:07:56 ]
RE: [AlexKristie-Alex_Hutchins] Yes,we sure are. We plan to chat all the Mars thing this year!!
Great! Be sure to sign up for the Dec. 2 Mars Millennium QuestChat with Ken Edgett. To do that go to: http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/sso/chats/sched2.html -- after today's chat :-)

[ Alex/Kristie-Alex_Hutchins - 16 - 11:08:15 ]
That very intresting! Can't wait!!!

[ StenOdenwald/Astronomer - 17 - 11:08:22 ]
RE: [Alex/Kristie-Alex_Hutchins] What is the EARTH's gravity????
Well..its sruface acceleration is 32 feet/sec/sec and that's one way to measure the gravitational force...Do you want a real number for its force?

[ Alex/Kristie-Alex_Hutchins - 18 - 11:09:08 ]
We'll be sure to do that Sandy! Thanks!

[ StenOdenwald/Astronomer - 19 - 11:10:12 ]
RE: [Alex/Kristie-Alex_Hutchins] That very intresting! Can't wait!!!
What is your favorite thing about mars that you have learned so far?

[ Sandy/NASAChatHost - 20 - 11:10:30 ]
RE: [StenOdenwald/Astronomer] Dont forget that the MArs Polar lander is landing on December 3. It even has a tiny microphone soe we can hear the winds of mars!
For more info on the Mars Microprobes go to the following web site at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory-- http://nmp.jpl.nasa.gov/ds2/

[ StenOdenwald/Astronomer - 24 - 11:13:41 ]
RE: [Alex/Kristie-Alex_Hutchins] Would you happen to happen to know : "How a SPACE PROBE works"????
It kind of depends on what it is 'probing'. Actually I dont use that name; spacecraft or satellite is just fine to describe such pieces of hardward. A spacecraft usually carries a number of instruments which record their information and then transmit this data back to earth.

[ StenOdenwald/Astronomer - 26 - 11:14:43 ]
RE: [Brit-BritDelMoral/BlatchleyMiddleSchool] I need to know some info. on stars for a school project.
That's too broad a question. Start with an encyclopedia at the library, and then decide on a specific topic area that interests you!

[ Sandy/NASAChatHost - 27 - 11:15:48 ]
RE: [Brit-BritDelMoral/BlatchleyMiddleSchool] I need to know some info. on stars for a school project.
Welcome Brit! I think you'll need to be more specific in order for Sten to answer your question! What exactly is it you want to know? Have you done a web search on stars?

[ StenOdenwald/Astronomer - 28 - 11:16:23 ]
RE: [Alex/Kristie-Alex_Hutchins] Re: What is your fav. thing about Mars; That maybe someday we can live on it.
Yeah...that would be pretty neat too. My generation had astronsuts landing on the moon; I hope I live long enough to see yours walking on Mars. It would give me a lot of comfort in my 'old age' to know that someone still cares about this kind of adventure!

[ Sandy/NASAChatHost - 31 - 11:18:03 ]
ALEX, KRISTIE & BRIT: Lucky you!!! Currently you are the only ones online for this chat with Astronomer Sten! Take advantage of having the opportunity to have an almost one-on-one with Sten and ask him everything you've always wanted to know about space science!!!

[ StenOdenwald/Astronomer - 33 - 11:19:26 ]
RE: [Brit-BritDelMoral/BlatchleyMiddleSchool] Yes, I have done a web search. Class O of the Spectrum Sequence interests me, but that might be narrowing it down too far.
Class O stars are where black holes come from after the stars supernova. SOunds like a neat class to star a report about to me!!

[ Sandy/NASAChatHost - 38 - 11:21:23 ]
RE: [Alex/Kristie-Alex_Hutchins] "Is'nt it A Pity" no one else is chating!
YES, it is!!! But take advantage of it. If it continues to be just the three of you, we'll take questions for another 20 minutes or so... Start typing!!!

[ StenOdenwald/Astronomer - 39 - 11:21:37 ]
RE: [Alex/Kristie-Alex_Hutchins] Are there any near-future missions to Mars
A whole bunch. NASA has some mission going to mars every 700 or so days when MArs is closest to earth. Far as I know, the pipeline for missions goes beyond 2007, but its all a matter of how much money COngress will approve for this kind of work. They have cut out all manned-Mars planning for the forseeable future...so if we are going to mars we will have to walk!

[ StenOdenwald/Astronomer - 40 - 11:22:23 ]
RE: [Alex/Kristie-Alex_Hutchins] "Is'nt it A Pity" no one else is chating!
Yeah...but some days are like that for me too!

[ Alex/Kristie-Alex_Hutchins - 41 - 11:22:42 ]
Brit, where are you from? We are from: Aledo IL and in 8th grade

[ StenOdenwald/Astronomer - 43 - 11:23:18 ]
RE: [Brit-BritDelMoral/BlatchleyMiddleSchool] You said that you were interested in astronomy, what interests you?
The origin of the universe, and the search for planets beyond our solar system...both have had some real excitement going in them for the last 10 years now.

[ Sandy/NASAChatHost - 44 - 11:23:54 ]
RE: [Brit-BritDelMoral/BlatchleyMiddleSchool] This is so cool that we can get on-line and do this!
It is pretty neat, isn't it! I still get excited every time I moderate a chat as I'm always learning something new :-)

[ StenOdenwald/Astronomer - 45 - 11:24:17 ]
RE: [Alex/Kristie-Alex_Hutchins] Like we have carbon dioxide and oxygen in the Earth,what is on Mars??
Well...we mostly have Nitrogen (60%) and Oxygen (25%) and only about a few percent is carbon dioxide. Mars is almost 100 % carbon dioxide.

[ Brit-BritDelMoral/BlatchleyMiddleSchool - 46 - 11:24:44 ]
I'm from Sitka, Alaska and I'm in the seventh grade

[ StenOdenwald/Astronomer - 48 - 11:26:16 ]
RE: [Brit-BritDelMoral/BlatchleyMiddleSchool] I know that white drawfs can be 1000 times less brighter than the sun. What are the stars that are brighter than the sun called?
Giants and Supergiants. Giants produce about 100 times the power of our sun and supergiants can produce a million times the power of our sun. Supergiants are bad news for life.

[ Alex/Kristie-Alex_Hutchins - 49 - 11:26:34 ]
So Brit,in Alaska do ya get good views of the stars?

[ StenOdenwald/Astronomer - 51 - 11:27:59 ]
RE: [Brit-BritDelMoral/BlatchleyMiddleSchool] I'm from Sitka, Alaska and I'm in the seventh grade
Hi...why not have your teacher join our Alaska School network studying Aurora from space...see http://image.gsfc.nasa.gov/poetry and click on the 'Alaska Network' link...write me for details at odenwald@bolero.gsfc.nasa.gov. We need a school in Sitka!!

[ Brit-BritDelMoral/BlatchleyMiddleSchool - 53 - 11:28:25 ]
Yeah, I have an awesome view, but I'm in southeast Alaska, so it rains a lot. It's one huge rainforest.

[ StenOdenwald/Astronomer - 54 - 11:28:49 ]
RE: [Alex/Kristie-Alex_Hutchins] What is the most interesting thing [you think] is on Mars???
Fossil bacteria...of a few live ones buried underground near the polar caps!!! I would put my money on either or both of these!!

[ StenOdenwald/Astronomer - 56 - 11:29:53 ]
RE: [Alex/Kristie-Alex_Hutchins] Waht kind of soil is on Mars!??!
The crummy kind. There are no organics in it so it isnt like toipsoil. The nearest thing we have is the stuff you see in Death Valley, or in the deserts of Antarctica.

[ Sandy/NASAChatHost - 57 - 11:29:59 ]
RE: [Alex/Kristie-Alex_Hutchins] What intertainment do you have on Mars?
I think you meant Alaska, didn't you?!

[ StenOdenwald/Astronomer - 60 - 11:30:54 ]
RE: [Alex/Kristie-Alex_Hutchins] What intertainment do you have on Mars?
You can go for long walks? Pitch stones at boulders? Find clever ways of applying Sunblock 1000?

[ StenOdenwald/Astronomer - 62 - 11:32:20 ]
RE: [Brit-BritDelMoral/BlatchleyMiddleSchool] My teacher would like to know if their is a phone number Steve can be reached at after the chat is over.
OK...its 301) 286-6953, and Id be glad to chat.

[ Brit-BritDelMoral/BlatchleyMiddleSchool - 63 - 11:32:57 ]
We have everything you have! A lot of people think Alaska is like a foreign country. We get Old Navy, Movies, Malls, McDonalds, burger King, what you have we have. We even have the same TV channels!

[ StenOdenwald/Astronomer - 64 - 11:33:44 ]
RE: [Brit-BritDelMoral/BlatchleyMiddleSchool] Yeah, I have an awesome view, but I'm in southeast Alaska, so it rains a lot. It's one huge rainforest.
Yeah...I was up in Seldovia on the Kenai Penninsula in AUgust doing some stuff with teahcers...it was rainy, cold and lush. They said that if you spand 5 minutes in the water...youre dead.

[ Sandy/NASAChatHost - 65 - 11:36:35 ]
OK... 10 MORE MINUTES TO ASK STEN QUESTIONS AND THEN WE'RE GOING TO LET HIM GET BACK TO WORK... START TYPING :-) :-) :-)

[ Brit-BritDelMoral/BlatchleyMiddleSchool - 66 - 11:37:20 ]
Well, in Sitka, I go swimming outside all the time (during summer). The water isn't that cold here. Think of it as Seattle weather. We had survival day in the ocean during October.

[ Sandy/NASAChatHost - 70 - 11:39:47 ]
RE: [Brit-BritDelMoral/BlatchleyMiddleSchool] Okay, better stick to questions.
Maybe the three of you should exchange email addresses and you could be Alaska-to-Illinois penpals!

[ Brit-BritDelMoral/BlatchleyMiddleSchool - 71 - 11:40:34 ]
That's not a bad idea, Sandy!

[ StenOdenwald/Astronomer - 72 - 11:41:10 ]
RE: [Brit-BritDelMoral/BlatchleyMiddleSchool] Does the Milky Way have a sequence like the Stellar Spectra
No...but galaxies have been classified by their shapes. Our Milky Way is an SBc-type galaxy - a barred spiral with a weak nuclear region.

[ Sandy/NASAChatHost - 77 - 11:43:01 ]
RE: [Brit-BritDelMoral/BlatchleyMiddleSchool] Did Alex and Kristie leave?
I don't think so... they would've said goodbye. But if they did, I will send you their email addresses so that you can get a penpal thing going :-)

[ StenOdenwald/Astronomer - 78 - 11:44:00 ]
RE: [Brit-BritDelMoral/BlatchleyMiddleSchool] What are triple-stars? Are they three combined stars?
Yep...trinary star systems are not too common unless two of the stars form a tight binary and the third is a long way off...like Alpha Centauri A and B which are close, and orbited by Proxima Centauri

[ Sandy/NASAChatHost - 80 - 11:44:30 ]
Ok Brit, it does look like you're it! So if you have two more questions for Sten, fire them off and then we'll end the chat.

[ Sandy/NASAChatHost - 82 - 11:45:08 ]
RE: [Brit-BritDelMoral/BlatchleyMiddleSchool] Sandy, are you and Sten in the same room?
No. I'm near Denver, CO and Sten is just outside of Washington, DC in Greenbelt, MD.

[ StenOdenwald/Astronomer - 85 - 11:46:28 ]
RE: [Brit-BritDelMoral/BlatchleyMiddleSchool] Proxima Centauri?
Hmm...a question needs a verb or something, doesnt it?

[ StenOdenwald/Astronomer - 88 - 11:47:37 ]
RE: [Brit-BritDelMoral/BlatchleyMiddleSchool] What is your theory on the evolution of stars?
I dont have an independent one...none is needed .We pretty well understand the major processes, but it would take me a long time toi explain them to you.

[ Sandy/NASAChatHost - 89 - 11:47:58 ]
RE: [Brit-BritDelMoral/BlatchleyMiddleSchool] Have you two met?
Yes, we're colleagues! Ok, so you've now used up your 2 questions!!! The chat is officially over and Sten must go back to work!

[ StenOdenwald/Astronomer - 90 - 11:48:20 ]
RE: [Brit-BritDelMoral/BlatchleyMiddleSchool] What is Proxima Centauri?
Its a star located 4.2 light years from the sun, and a member of the Alpha Centauri star system

[ Sandy/NASAChatHost - 92 - 11:49:03 ]
Thank you Brit for your questions today! I hope you'rea ble to make it back for another chat. Check out our schedule at: http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/sso/chats/sched2.html

[ Brit-BritDelMoral/BlatchleyMiddleSchool - 93 - 11:49:32 ]
Thanks!

[ StenOdenwald/Astronomer - 94 - 11:50:26 ]
See you later sometime and thanks for your interesting questions today!

[ Sandy/NASAChatHost - 95 - 11:50:33 ]
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