Travelers in the Night - Eps. 259 & 260: Trans Neptunian & Gliding To Space

Dr. Al Grauer hosts. Dr. Albert D. Grauer ( @Nmcanopus ) is an observational asteroid hunting astronomer. Dr. Grauer retired from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock in 2006. Today's 2 topics: - Catalina Sky Survey teammates Alex Gibbs, Greg Leonard, Carson Fuls and Richard Kowalski followed 2016 EJ203 for a month to determine that it was a TNO, a Trans-Neptunian Object and poses no threat to Earth. - Dr. Elizabeth Austin studied polar vortex winds and the stratospheric polar night jet wind. When this wind joins with the jet stream 130,000 foot high 'waves' can result. The 400mph Airbus Perlan II glider will be able ride these waves to 90,000' in atmosphere that's similar in density to that on Mars. A flight in the August to October 2017 time frame is expected. The correct weather conditions for a flight did not happen in 2016, unfortunately. Do go visit http://astrogear.spreadshirt.com/ for cool Astronomy Cast and CosmoQuest t-shirts, coffee mugs and other awesomeness! http://cosmoquest.org/Donate This show is made possible through your donations. Thank you! (Haven't donated? It's not too late! Just click!) The 365 Days of Astronomy Podcast is produced by Astrosphere New Media. http://www.astrosphere.org/ Visit us on the web at 365DaysOfAstronomy.org or email us at info@365DaysOfAstronomy.org. While you're at it, do support our Learning Space educator training program by going to this site: https://www.patreon.com/LearningSpace Please help us keep training the trainers! Learning Space is a weekly G+ Hangout on Air about topics in astronomy education, outreach and other ways to share science both in the school setting and outside it. We bring you interviews, hands-on demonstrations, lists of our favorite educational resources and more!