Carnival of Space, Week 292!

Welcome to the Carnival of Space! This is my third time hosting the Carnival; you can find my first Carnival here and my second carnival here. The Carnival is a weekly round-up of space stories from around the internet. If you've got a space-related blog, you too can join the Carnival of Space. Email carnivalofspace at gmail dot com to host, share a story you wrote, and to get to know other space bloggers. 

Cassini's view of Saturn.
Source: NASA.

This week's carnival of space is rather dramatic! Read on to learn strategies for galactic domination... to see storms on Saturn and the Sun... to learn about threats facing the Earth (sequestration) Mars (a possible collision with a comet?) and Europa (sharks?! Well, maybe...) 

We are all in the Gutter explains how video game data can help use decide which galactic domination strategy is best.

The Chandra X-Ray Observatory blog shares recent discoveries in probing extreme matter through observations of neutron stars.

There's big news this week from one of Jupiter's moons! The Meridiani Journal and Yahoo News reports that Europa's oceans appear to be somewhat similar to Earth's ... the chemical composition may be able to support marine life.

Cracks on Europa (possibly reaching down to a subsurface ocean?)
Source: Space.com.

In an interview this past week, NBC News anchor Brian Williams expressed disappointment in the U.S.'s limited commitment to manned space flight. The Examiner reports that Williams wants to see a U.S. role in exploration beyond the International Space Station and unmanned missions.

The Earth isn't the only planet in our solar system threatened with extraterrestrial collisions these days! The Examiner reports that a comet may his Mars next October.

Mist rising from gullies on Mars.
Source: Riding with Robots on the High Frontier.

What effect will sequestration have on NASA? Yahoo News examines a House bill to ensure funding to NASA's commercial space program and Space Launch System.

Does news of the sequester make you want to leave our planet? Universe Today shares Golden Spike's announcement seeking crowdfunding for its planned commercial missions to the moon.

One of the charms of a trip to the International Space Station is the beautiful view. Astronotes shares ten amazing photos taken by the astronauts and cosmonauts aboard the ISS.

A beautiful long-exposure photo from the ISS.
Source: NASA.

SpaceX is developing a new spaceship that will be reusable  and can land anywhere on Earth, similar to a helicopter  Next Big Future reports that this craft, the Grasshopper, successfully completed a short test flight this past week.

Andrew Fraknoi: Exploring the Universe shares a video recorded by a Sun-observing spacecraft, showing a massive solar eruption and a resulting rain of hot particles. 

Recently the Cassini space craft has been watching a huge storm on Saturn. Weird Warp reports on this storm, and shares beautiful time lapse photo of the disturbances in Saturn's atmosphere!

An infrared photo of Saturn, by the Hubble Space Telescope.
Source: Wikipedia.

After all the impacts, storms, and sequester drama, are you left thinking you better learn a bit more about our chaotic universe? Then you can check out Cheap Astronomy's latest podcast, which answers tricky questions about outer space.

For more answers to interesting space questions (e.g., "Does the landscape of the Moon include cliffs?") check out Dear Astronomer's post responding to readers' queries about lunar geology.

A Moonrise viewed last month in Minnesota.
Source: Astrobob.