Full Earth-Rise

KAGUYA (SELENE)
Image Taking of “Full Earth-Rise” by HDTV

April 11, 2008 (JST)

Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA)
Japan Broadcasting Corporation (NHK)

The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) and NHK (Japan Broadcasting Corporation) successfully captured a movie of the "Full Earth-Rise"*1 using the onboard High Definition Television (HDTV) of the lunar explorer "KAGUYA " (SELENE) on April 6, 2008 (Japan Standard Time, JST, all the following dates and time are JST.) The KAGUYA is currently flying in a lunar orbit at an altitude of about 100 km.

An "Earth-rise," or the rising Earth over the Moon, was first captured by the Apollo project. The Earth rising image taken by the KAGUYA on November 7, 2007, was not a full Earth-rise (i.e. not all of the globe was seen in shining blue.) It missed some part. This time, a "full Earth-rise"*1 was taken by the onboard HDTV in faraway space, some 380,000 km away from the Earth. This is the world's first successful shooting of such a Full Earth-Rise. It was also very precious because it was one of only two chances in a year for the KAGUYA to capture a Full Earth-Rise when the orbits of the Moon, the Earth, the Sun and the KAGUYA are all lined up.

The shooting was performed by the KAGUYA's onboard HDTV for space use, which was developed by NHK. The movie data was received at JAXA, then processed by NHK.

*1 The phenomenon expressed as a "Full Earth-Rise" can be seen from a satellite that travels around the Moon such as the KAGUYA (SELENE) or the Apollo manned spacecraft. The Earth is almost stationary when it is observed from the Moon, thus a Full Earth-Rise coming out from the horizon cannot be seen from the Moon.

Full Earth-rise taken by HDTV
Full Earth-set taken by HDTV
(480X270px, no audio)

Full Earth-rise taken by HDTV (Tele camera)

The above still image is a cutout from the movie taken by the KAGUYA HDTV (tele camera) on April 6, 2008 (JST.)
The location on the Moon is around the South Pole on the back side at a south latitude of 83 degrees or higher. You can see the North American Continent on the image of the earth on the lower left and Pacific Ocean in the center. (The top of the image is the south of the Earth, thus the North American Continent is seen upside down.)
The image below shows the Earth rising from the Moon's horizon. It took about 40 seconds from the left image to the right.

Full Earth Rising taken by HDTV

Figure 1: Timing of taking the Full Earth-Rise image
The above figure shows the relative positions of the Sun, Earth, Moon and the KAGUYA by setting the Sun at the center viewing from the North. Black arrows indicate the KAGUYA's orbit around the Moon, and red arrows are the KAGUYA's moving direction. The green arrows show the Earth's revolving direction around the Sun. "Yaw around" is an attitude control maneuver to change the KAGUYA's moving direction by using its thruster for attitude control to face the solar array paddle toward the Sun. On April 3, we performed the yaw around, and the KAGUYA is now flying toward +X direction (forward direction,) which is 180 degrees around the original direction when the KAGUYA was launched (-X direction or backward direction.) Through the yaw around maneuver, the HDTV tele camera faces toward the moving direction.

Figure 2: Position of HDTV

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Reference

Table 1: List of images taken by the HDTV since December 25, 2008

Location	Start of image shooting (JST)	Completion of image shooting	Starting location	Finishing location
Plateau	at 4:41 p.m. on Feb. 25	4:49 p.m.	N lat. 78 deg. E long. around 339 to 5 deg.	N lat. 54 deg. E long. around 347 to 355 deg.
Pythagoras	2: 56 p.m. on Feb. 29	3:04 p.m.	N lat. 81 deg. E long. around 279 to 315	N lat. 57 deg. E long. around 294 to 303 deg.
Mare Humboldtianum	7:33 p.m. on March 16	7:41 p.m.	N lat. 75 deg. E long. around 73 to 93 deg.	N lat. 51 deg. E long. around 88 to 89 deg.
Mare Serenitatis (Sea of Serenity) South area	9:13 a.m. on March 22	9:21 a.m.	N lat. 19 deg. E long. around 10 to 16 deg.	S lat. 5 deg. E long. around 9 to 15 deg.
Full Earth-set	12:15 p.m. on April 5	12:19 p.m.	N lat. 86 to 87 deg. E long. around 118 to 259 deg.	N lat. 76 deg. E long. around 176 to 199 deg.
Full Earth-rise	6:44 a.m. on April 6	6:45 a.m.	S lat. 82 to 83 deg. E long. around 152 to 194 deg.	S lat. 85 to 86 deg. E long. around 134 to 209 deg.

* The above images are all publicized in the JAXA Digital Archives.

Table 2: Major Characteristics of the HDTV

	HDTV
Camera Charactor Sensor Number of chips Prism Lens Field of view (FOC)	CCD(1920×1080: valid pxcels) 3 chips Three primary colors spectrum by Dichroic Prism Fixed lenses (T: tele camera, W: wide camera) T: 51.23°(horizontal) 30.17°(vertical) W: 15.60°(horizontal) 8.80°(vertical)

:

Mission website:

SELenological and ENgineering Explorer "KAGUYA" (SELENE)
"KAGUYA" (SELENE) Project Site

The Kanzius Machine

Guy Invents Potential Cancer Cure With Radio Machine Built Out of Pie Pans... and Hot Dogs

John Kanzius, a businessman and radio technician diagnosed with leukemia, came up with what some call "the most promising breakthroughs in cancer." His "radio wave machine" is discussed in the following segment from CBS' 60 Minutes:

You know, I really love it when (sorta) average guys out-innovate mega-corporate profit machines, like that homemade MRI machine. But this is more amazing: John Kanzius has no background in cancer research but might have invented a real cure. He was diagnosed with leukemia, and struck by the idea that radio waves could kill cancer cells. So he built a prototype machine using pie pans and conducted tests on hot dogs injected with copper sulfate—the radio waves only heat up metal spots, for tactical nuking without nasty side effects. It's now being tested at the University of Pittsburgh and M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, where the lead doc says that it "may allow us to treat just about any kind of cancer you can imagine."

So how to get metal bits to cancer cells? This is where the big corporate research comes in: nanotechnology. Thousands of nano-particles composed of metal bits can fit in a cancer cell. So far, they've conducted successful cancer extermination trials using the Kanzius machine and metal nano-particles at both M.D. Anderson and Pittsburgh. The catch is that it's only been tested on solid tumors—hitting cancer that's spread around the body is what they're working toward, and if they can't hunt down the individual cancer cells with the nano-particles, this will only have limited applications.

Human trials are also still four years away, which unfortunately might not be in time for the machine's inventor to cure himself. [CBS via Medgadget]

Biman may not get its new Boeing 787 jets in scheduled time

Boeing Dreamliner Turns Into Nightmareliner After New Delay

We have been following the Boeing's 787 Dreamliner for a long time. It's a beautiful aircraft, which allegedly provides with a much-better flying experience—less noise, bigger windows, more space, and better fuel efficiency—thanks to its new construction processes and technologies. However, a new delay in its LEGO-like manufacturing process shows that Boeing is having very serious difficulties with its mass production, which will put them a whooping 18 months behind their original schedule.

According to the always entertaining Richard Quest, the delays have been caused precisely by the new technologies and manufacturing strategies that Boeing is using for the 787. Mainly, the biggest problem seems to be with the carbon fiber modules being manufactured all through the world, which then have to be brought and put together at Boeing's Everett factory in Washington, using their gigantic cargo Dreamlifter.

But as Quest points out, there will have to be major changes to this process because, at the end of the day, "the reality is that they have discovered they can't do it" in this way. One of these immediate and most serious changes, will likely require a redesign of the 787's wingbox.

As a result of these troubles, Boeing has ended with "new revised schedules" and an "extraordinary embarrassment" comparable to the humiliation that EADS had as a result of the multiple delays on the Airbus A380.

The even-worse thing is that, while it's understandable that companies like Boeing and EADS may have setbacks in the construction of these giant next-generation machines, the problem doesn't end in the technological embarrassment: Boeing will have to pay compensation to the airlines who have already bought 850 Dreamliners—which is "far more than any other aircraft at this stage"—and were expecting them on time.

Nightmareliner indeed. [CNN]

Firefox logo spotted in deep space by the Hubble Telescope

Even Gigantic Celestial Bodies Prefer Firefox to IE

Captured by the Hubble Space Telescope is an image of the variable star V838 Monocerotis which lies near the edge of our Milky Way Galaxy. The photo was taken way back in March 2004.

Space Exploration

First South Korean sent into space

Yi So-Yeon said she hopes North Koreans will share her "triumph" in space [AFP] Thousands of South Koreans have gathered across the country to celebrate the blast-off of the country's first astronaut into space. Yi So-Yeon took off on Tuesday from the same launch pad at the Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhastan where Yury Gagarin, the first man in space, began his famous flight in 1961. A biosystem engineer, Yi will conduct 14 scientific experiments while in space and has said that she hopes her flight would help further Korean science and bring peace with North Korea. The launch made South Korea the 36th nation to send a person into orbit. Lee Myung-Bak, the South Korean president said: "I have strong feelings today. Today will go down in history as the start date of our march towards space". Space power In an earlier TV interview, Lee said that South Korea is on track to become the world's seventh-largest space power in 2020, when the nation is to launch its own lunar orbiter. "The birth of South Korea's first astronaut is celebrated by the entire nation. It will give big hope to young people, in particular." The Soviet-made Soyuz rocket took off from Kazakhstan [AFP] The South Korean government paid Russia about $25 million for the right to send the first Korean into space. Before blasting off, Yi said she was fully ready for adventure aboard the Soviet-made Soyuz TMA-12 spacecraft. "Right now, at the ISS, inside the Soyuz and right here, I am not a woman, I'm just a cosmonaut", she said. She also told reporters that she wanted people in North Korea to be "happy" with her 12-day mission and share in her "triumph," while voicing hope that one day the North and South would be reunited. Yi was selected last month to be the county's first astronaut after another South Korean candidate was taken off the mission for breaching rules by taking manuals out of Russia's high-security training base. "It's amazing! It's fantastic!," Sim Eunsup, director of the Korean Aerospace Research Institute, said as he walked away from a viewing platform. Sim said that he hoped that Yi's flight will form the basis of the country's manned space programme. Yi has said she planned to take kimchi, a traditional spicy cabbage, into space and sing a song to mark the anniversary of Gagarin's launch on April 12.

Space Exploration

The Future Of Space Exploration?

Black smoke belches out of a grinding old engine as it hauls Russia's latest Soyuz space capsule across a Kazakh wasteland, while armed guards keep watch. This mixture of high and low technology is probably the future of space exploration, as resources get scarcer and more small governments and independent operators get into the space game. More images of Soyuz in the wasteland, and its launch to the International Space Station, below:

A Russian police officer guards the Russian Soyuz TMA-12 space ship that will carry a new crew to the international space station as the rocket is transported to the launch pad at the Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan, Sunday, April 6, 2008. The rocket is scheduled to blast off on Tuesday, April 8. (AP Photo/Dmitry Lovetsky)

Russian police officers guard the Russian Soyuz TMA-12 space ship that will carry a new crew to the international space station as the rocket is transported to the launch pad at the Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan, Sunday, April 6, 2008. The mission is expected to ferry two Russian cosmonauts and a South Korean graduate student to the International Space Station. The rocket is scheduled to blast off on Tuesday, April 8. (AP Photo/Dmitry Lovetsky)

This day in history

April 4, 1975: Bill Gates, Paul Allen Form a Little Partnership

Microsoft founders Bill Gates and Paul Allen in 1983 just after completing MS Dos for the Tandy laptop and signing a contract to write MS-DOS for IBM.
Photo: Doug Wilson/Corbis

1975: Bill Gates and Paul Allen create a partnership called Micro-soft. It will grow into one of the largest U.S. corporations and place them among the world's richest people.

Gates and Allen had been buddies and fellow Basic programmers at Lakeside School in Seattle. Allen graduated before Gates and enrolled at the University of Washington. They built a computer based on an Intel 8008 chip and used it to analyze traffic data for the Washington state highway department, doing business as Traf-O-Data.

Allen went to work for Honeywell in Boston, and Gates enrolled at Harvard University in nearby Cambridge. News in late 1974 of the first personal computer kit, the Altair 8800, excited them, but they knew they could improve its performance with Basic.

Allen spoke to Ed Roberts, president of Altair manufacturer MITS (Micro Instrumentation and Telemetry Systems), and sold him on the idea. Gates and Allen worked night and day to complete the first microcomputer Basic. Allen moved to Albuquerque, New Mexico, in January 1975 to become director of software for MITS. Gates dropped out of his sophomore year at Harvard and joined Allen in Albuquerque.

Allen was 22; Gates was 19. Altair Basic was functioning by March. The "Micro-soft" partnership was sealed in April, but wouldn't get its name for a few more months.

The fledgling company also created versions of Basic for the hot-selling Apple II and Radio Shack's TRS-80.

Microsoft moved from Albuquerque to Bellevue, Washington, in 1979. It incorporated in 1981, a few weeks before IBM introduced its personal computer with Microsoft's 16-bit operating system, MS-DOS 1.0.

The thriving young company moved again in 1986, this time to a new corporate campus in Redmond, Washington. Microsoft stock went public in March 1986. Adjusting for splits, a share of that stock is worth almost 280 times its original value today (or more than 140 times, even accounting for inflation).

ATV Jules Verne Docks with Station

The Jules Verne, the first European Space Agency Automated Transfer Vehicle, docked to the aft port of the International Space Station's Zvezda Service Module at 10:45 a.m. EDT Thursday.

Image to right: The Jules Verne Automated Transfer Vehicle approaches the aft port of the International Space Station's Zvezda Service Module for docking. Image credit: NASA TV

The unpiloted cargo spacecraft carries more than 7,500 pounds of equipment, supplies, water, fuel and gases for the station.

It also carries hopes and aspirations of the European Space Agency. The ATV and its advanced rendezvous system could play an important role in future space exploration.

The Jules Verne docked smoothly using its automated, laser guided rendezvous system. It was in many respects a repeat of the dry run on Monday. That practice approach brought the ATV to within 36 feet of the docking port.

The Jules Verne launched from Kourou, French Guiana, on an Ariane 5 rocket on March 9.

Solar arrays deployed as planned after two engine firings more than an hour and a half after launch. That placed the ATV in a parking orbit about 1,200 miles from the station.

Image to left: The Jules Verne Automated Transfer Vehicle docks to aft port of the International Space Station's Zvezda Service Module. Image credit: NASA TV

It was, at almost 22 tons, the largest payload ever launched by the Ariane 5.

The Jules Verne is named after the acclaimed French science-fiction author. It is the first of perhaps seven such spacecraft to be built.

The ATV can carry about three times the cargo weight carried by the Progress, the reliable Russian unpiloted cargo carrier.

The Jules Verne initially was placed in an orbit a safe distance from the station, where a series of tests were performed. Among the last of the tests were two approaches to the station.

Those approaches ended in "escape" maneuvers, to verify a collision avoidance system. It would be used if the ATV automated docking system should fail.

The spacecraft is scheduled to remain at the station until August, for unloading and to reboost the orbiting laboratory. Subsequently it will be filled with station garbage and discards. Then it will be deorbited for destruction on re-entry over the Pacific.

Europe’s automated ship docks to the ISS

Jules Verne ATV docking

3 April 2008

ESA PR 20-2008. ATV Jules Verne, the European Space Agency’s first resupply and reboost vehicle, has successfully performed a fully automated docking with the International Space Station (ISS). This docking marks the beginning of Jules Verne’s main servicing mission to deliver cargo, propellant, water, oxygen and propulsion capacity to the Station, as well as ESA’s entry into the restricted club of the partners able to access the orbital facility by their own means.

The 19-ton unmanned spaceship manoeuvred from a holding position 39 km behind the 275-ton space outpost and conducted a 4-hour staged approach with several stops at reference points for checks. It autonomously computed its own position through relative GPS (comparison between data collected by GPS receivers both on the ATV and the ISS) and in close range it used videometers pointed at laser retroreflectors on the ISS to determine its distance and orientation relative to its target. Final approach was at a relative velocity of 7 cm/s and with an accuracy of less than 10 cm, while both the ATV and the ISS were orbiting at about 28000 km/h, some 340 km above the Eastern Mediterranean. ATV Jules Verne’s docking probe was captured by the docking cone at the aft end of Russia’s Zvezda module at 16:45 CEST (14:45 GMT). Docking was completed with hooks closing at 16:52 CEST (14:52 GMT).


First automated docking

This is the very first time in Europe that an automated docking is performed in due respect of the very tight safety constraints imposed by manned spaceflight operations. All the approach and docking phase was piloted by the ATV’s onboard computers under close monitoring by the teams of ESA, CNES (the French Space agency) and Astrium (the prime contractor) at the ATV Control Centre at CNES Toulouse, France, as well as the ISS crew inside the Zvezda module. In case of anomaly, both ends could trigger pre-programmed manoeuvres to hold position, retreat to the previous reference point or escape to a safe distance.

The ATV’s behaviour was also under surveillance from its own independent Monitoring & Safing Unit (MSU), which uses a separate set of sensors and computers to check that the approach manoeuvre is conducted safely. In case of major anomaly, the MSU would have been able to take over the commands and order a Collision Avoidance Manoeuvre (CAM) through dedicated avionics chains and thrusters.

As all operations went smoothly, none of these safety manoeuvres was required during this afternoon’s approach and docking.

	Replay of Ariane 5 ES-ATV launch

The ATV Jules Verne was launched by an Ariane 5 from Europe’s spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana, on 9 March. Three days later, it successfully demonstrated its autonomous CAM capability and was cleared for ISS proximity operations. The spaceship then moved to a parking orbit for the duration of space shuttle Endeavour’s visit to the ISS. On March 29 and 31 it conducted two rehearsals of today’s docking, approaching at 11 m from the Station.


New delivery service

Now that it is docked, the ATV Jules Verne will become an additional module of the ISS for about four months. The astronauts will enter its pressurized cargo module and retrieve 1,150 kg of dry cargo, including food, clothes and equipment as well as two original manuscripts handwritten by Jules Verne and a XIXth century illustrated edition of his novel “From the Earth to the Moon”. In addition, they will pump 856 kg of propellant, 270 kg of drinking water and 21 kg of oxygen into Zvezda’s tanks.

The ATV can carry about three times as much payload as Russia’s Progress freighters but on this mission, most of it is actually propellant to be used by the ATV’s own propulsion system for periodical manoeuvres to increase the altitude of the ISS in order to compensate its natural decay caused by atmospheric drag. If required, the ATV will also be able to provide redundant attitude control to the ISS or even perform evasive manoeuvres to move the Station out of the way of potentially dangerous space debris. The first of ATV Jules Verne’s reboost manoeuvres is currently scheduled on 21 April.

ESA DG and dignitaries at ATV-CC

“The ATV is so much more than a simple delivery truck, it is an intelligent and versatile spaceship which has just demonstrated its extraordinary skills,” said Daniel Sacotte, ESA’s Director for Human Spaceflight, Microgravity and Exploration. “It is the largest and most complex spacecraft ever developed in Europe and the second in size of all the vehicle’s visiting the Station, after NASA’s space shuttle. With Columbus and the ATV, we have entered the major league of the ISS.”

“The docking of the ATV is a new and spectacular step in the demonstration of European capabilities on the international scene of space exploration ”said Jean-Jacques Dordain, ESA’s Director General. “This fantastic step is in first instance the result of collective work in Europe, including ESA Member States, industry under Astrium as prime contractor, CNES and ESA staff as well as among ISS partners, in particular the USA and Russia. We shall now reap the benefits of such investments after the launch of ESA’s Columbus laboratory, first in utilizing the unique capabilities of the ISS and secondly in preparing for the exploration of the Solar System. Now that the ATV is "up and running", I am happy to announce that in the next few weeks ESA will launch a recruitment campaign to hire new European astronauts"


For further information:

ESA Media Relations Office
Communication and Knowledge Department
Tel: + 33 1 5369 7299
Fax: + 33 1 5369 7690

Follow the Jules Verne ATV docking

Jules Verne ATV approaches the ISS during Demonstration Day 2 manoeuvres

3 April 2008

Follow the first docking attempt of Jules Verne, ESA’s first Automated Transfer Vehicle, live on the ESA website. Web streaming of the docking starts at 16:00 CEST (14:00 UT). For realtime updates from inside the ATV Control Centre in Toulouse visit the ATV blog.

Contact of the vessel's docking probe is expected at 16:40 CEST (14:40 UT), with full capture scheduled at 17:14 CEST (15:14 UT).

The rendezvous and docking will be broadcast live by ESA TV, 16:00-17:15 CEST (14:00-15:15 UT); details are available on the ESA TV web page under http://television.esa.int/.

If the docking does not occur for any reason, the next possible window occurs 48 hours later on Saturday 5 April. The rendezvous and docking will be monitored from ESA's ATV Control Centre in Toulouse, France, in cooperation with the Russian control centre in Moscow and the NASA control centre in Houston.

Full schedule

Note: Times have changed slightly compared to previously published schedule. Times remain subject change.

Distance to ISS	Critical events
*S-1/2(39 km behind and 5 km below)	- ATV in waiting mode for final go ahead
S0(30 km behind and 5 km below)	Pre-homing
S1 (15.5 km behind and 5 km below) S1 planned GO 13:17 CEST	- Homing starts
S2(3.5 km behind and 100 m above) S2 arrival 14:04 CEST S2 depart 14:36 CEST	- Station keeping point. External lights are activated. Russian Kurs radar-based system is activated and the ISS crew can begin using this data. Closing begins using relative GPS.
500 m	Video system of Zvezda turned on for ISS crew to view ATV on the Simvol screen.
S3(249 m behind) S3 arrival 15:16 CEST S3 depart 15:52 CEST	- Station keeping point. The Videometer and Telegoniometer (laser-pulsed instruments that calculate the distance and orientation to the ISS) are activated. Videometer is used as the prime sensor for GNC navigation. Go for Final Approach 1. Speed of ATV slows down from about 40 cm per second to 7 cm per second
S4(19 m behind) S4 arrival 16:13 CEST S4 depart 16:29 CEST	- Station keeping point. Close range videometer navigation is used. Pointing manoeuvre towards the Docking Port axis. Go for Final Approach 2.
S41 (11 m behind) S41 arrival 16:31 CEST S41 depart 16:37 CEST	- Station keeping point. Go to continue the Final Approach 2.
Capture 16:40 CEST Hooks closed 17:14 CEST	ATV docks to Zvezda ATV permanently connected to Zvezda

Jules Verne ATV given ‘go’ for docking

Jules Verne ATV as seen from the ISS during a rendezvous test on 29 March 2008

2 April 2008

Jules Verne was today formally cleared to proceed with the first ISS docking attempt, scheduled for 3 April 2008 at 16:41 CEST (14:41 UT). The official go-ahead came from the International Space Station Mission Management Team (IMMT) after two flawless demonstration days in which Jules Verne proved its operational capabilities.

"We have proven that Jules Verne's systems are safe, reliable and ready to dock to the Station. Everyone has worked very hard to get to this point, and we have also proven that the team on the ground is fully ready for tomorrow's first attempt," said John Ellwood, ESA's ATV Project Manager.

The formal permission came during today's IMMT meeting held at 13:00 CEST (11:00 UT), in which ESA together with its ISS partners reviewed the Automated Transfer Vehicle's (ATV) performance from Demonstration Day 2.


Demo Day 2, held on 31 March, saw Jules Verne conduct a series of challenging manoeuvres and confirm that the spacecraft could autonomously navigate itself using optical guidance and close to station keeping point S41, just 11 m from the ISS. Jules Verne also reacted perfectly to an 'Escape' command issued by astronauts on board the ISS, proving that the vessel can automatically withdraw to a safe location when so commanded.

Tomorrow's docking attempt will see Jules Verne move past station keeping point S41 to actually dock with the Russian ISS module's docking port. Contact of the vessel's docking probe is expected at 16:41 CEST (14:41 UT), with full capture scheduled at 17:15 CEST (15:15 UT). If the docking does not occur for any reason, the next possible window occurs 48 hours later on Saturday, 5 April.


The rendezvous and docking will be monitored from ESA's ATV Control Centre in Toulouse, France, in cooperation with the Russian control centre in Moscow and the NASA control centre in Houston.

The rendezvous and docking will be broadcast live by ESA TV, 16:00-17:15 CEST (14:00-15:15 UT); details are available on the ESA TV web page under http://television.esa.int/.

The event will also be streamed live via the ESA website starting at 16:00 CEST (14:00 UT); the link will be made available shortly before on http://www.esa.int/atv.

7 Pains You Shouldn't Ignore

Experts describe the types of pain that require prompt medical attention.

By Leanna Skarnulis
WebMD Feature

Reviewed by Matthew Hoffman, MD

Whoever coined the term "necessary evil" might have been thinking of pain. No one wants it, yet it's the body's way of getting your attention when something is wrong. You're probably sufficiently in tune with your body to know when the pain is just a bother, perhaps the result of moving furniture a day or two before or eating that third enchilada. It's when pain might signal something more serious that the internal dialogue begins:

"OK, this isn't something to fool around with."
"But I can't miss my meeting."
"And how many meetings will you miss if you land in the hospital?"
"I'll give it one more day."
Etc.

You need a guide. WebMD consulted doctors in cardiology, internal medicine, geriatrics, and psychiatry so you'll understand which pains you must not ignore -- and why. And, of course, if in doubt, get medical attention.

No. 1: Worst Headache of Your Life

Get medical attention immediately. "If you have a cold, it could be a sinus headache," says Sandra Fryhofer, MD, MACP, spokeswoman for the American College of Physicians. "But you could have a brain hemorrhage or brain tumor. With any pain, unless you're sure of what caused it, get it checked out."

Sharon Brangman, MD, FACP, spokeswoman for the American Geriatrics Society, tells WebMD that when someone says they have the worst headache of their life, "what we learned in medical training was that was a classic sign of a brain aneurysm. Go immediately to the ER."

No. 2: Pain or Discomfort in the Chest, Throat, Jaw, Shoulder, Arm, or Abdomen

Chest pain could be pneumoniaor a heart attack. But be aware that heart conditions typically appear as discomfort, not pain. "Don't wait for pain," says cardiologist Jerome Cohen, MD. "Heart patients talk about pressure. They'll clench their fist and put it over their chest or say it's like an elephant sitting on their chest."

The discomfort associated with heart disease could also be in the upper chest, throat, jaw, left shoulder or arm, or abdomen and might be accompanied by nausea. "I'm not too much worried about the 18-year-old, but if a person has unexplained, persistent discomfort and knows they're high risk, they shouldn't wait," says Cohen. "Too often people delay because they misinterpret it as [heartburn] or GI distress. Call 911 or get to an emergency room or physician's office. If it turns out to be something else, that's great."

He tells WebMD that intermittent discomfort should be taken seriously as well. "There might be a pattern, such as discomfort related to excitement, emotional upset, or exertion. For example, if you experience it when you're gardening, but it goes away when you sit down, that's angina. It's usually worse in cold or hot weather."

"A woman's discomfort signs can be more subtle," says Cohen, who is director of preventive cardiology at Saint Louis University School of Medicine. "Heart disease can masquerade as GI symptoms, such as bloating, GI distress, or discomfort in the abdomen. It's also associated with feeling tired. Risk for heart disease increases dramatically after menopause. It kills more women than men even though men are at higher risk at any age. Women and their physicians need to be on their toes."

No. 3: Pain in Lower Back or Between Shoulder Blades

"Most often it's arthritis," says Brangman, who is professor and chief of geriatrics at SUNY Upstate Medical University in Syracuse, N.Y. Other possibilities include a heart attack or abdominal problems. "One danger is aortic dissection, which can appear as either a nagging or sudden pain. People who are at risk have conditions that can change the integrity of the vessel wall. These would include high blood pressure, a history of circulation problems, smoking, and diabetes."

No. 4: Severe Abdominal Pain

Still have your appendix? Don't flirt with the possibility of a rupture. Gallbladder and pancreas problems, stomach ulcers, and intestinal blockages are some other possible causes of abdominal pain that need attention.

No 5: Calf Pain

One of the lesser known dangers is deep vein thrombosis (DVT), a blood clot that can occur in the leg's deep veins. It affects 2 million Americans a year, and it can be life-threatening. "The danger is that a piece of the clot could break loose and cause pulmonary embolism [a clot in the lungs], which could be fatal," says Fryhofer. Cancer, obesity, immobility due to prolonged bed rest or long-distance travel, pregnancy, and advanced age are among the risk factors.

"Sometimes there's just swelling without pain," says Brangman. "If you have swelling and pain in your calf muscles, see a doctor immediately."

No. 6: Burning Feet or Legs

Nearly one-third of the 20 million Americans who have diabetes are undiagnosed, according to the American Diabetes Association. "In some people who don't know they have diabetes, peripheral neuropathy could be one of the first signs," says Brangman. "It's a burning or pins-and-needles sensation in the feet or legs that can indicate nerve damage."

No 7: Vague, Combined, or Medically Unexplained Pains

"Various painful, physical symptoms are common in depression," says psychiatrist Thomas Wise, MD. "Patients will have vague complaints of headaches, abdominal pain, or limb pain, sometimes in combination."

Because the pain might be chronic and not terribly debilitating, depressed people, their families, and health care professionals might dismiss the symptoms. "Furthermore, the more depressed you are, the more difficulty you have describing your feelings," says Wise, who is the psychiatry department chairman at Inova Fairfax Hospital in Fairfax, Va. "All of this can lead the clinician astray."

Other symptoms must be present before a diagnosis of depression can be made. "Get help when you've lost interest in activities, you're unable to work or think effectively, and you can't get along with people," he says. "And don't suffer silently when you're hurting."

He adds there's more to depression than deterioration of the quality of life. "It has to be treated aggressively before it causes structural changes in the brain."