Category Archives: Space

Elevator to space

Posted on February 11, 2007 | Comments Off on Elevator to space

I’m a month late getting this up (so to speak) but it’s worth a look: NOVA ScienceNOW’s Jan. 9 video report on the space elevator concept and last year’s New Mexico challenge. It’s more gee whiz than science, but you’ll come away from the 12-minute show with a pretty clear understanding of the idea. After that try the Spaceward Foundation’s new comprehensive FAQ on the research challenges.

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Those wily aliens

Posted on February 10, 2007 | Comments Off on Those wily aliens

Mr. Boy and his pals like to "hunt aliens," as they call it when camping with the other Tiger Cubs in the woods at McKinney Falls State Park. Well, here are "real" aliens, explaining the war on terrorism–with really cool pictures, for the text-challenged. A big gracias to Miriam at Miriam’s Ideas for the tip.

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Saturn views

Posted on February 9, 2007 | Comments Off on Saturn views

Good views of Saturn possible this weekend with a home telescope, two hours after sunset in the Northern Hemisphere, looking east here until it’s overhead by midnight. Should have a good view of the rings as they are tilting towards us.

From SpaceWeather.com: "Saturn is at its closest to Earth: 762 million miles. It thus looks bigger and brighter both to the naked eye [resembling a bright, yellow star] and through a telescope than it will at any other time in 2007."

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Posted in Science/Engineering, Space

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A surfeit of astronauts

Posted on February 9, 2007 | Comments Off on A surfeit of astronauts

The story behind the story of astronaut Lisa Nowak’s cross-country odyssey of love gone wrong isn’t just NASA’s problem of psychological evaluation of future crews for the space station, moon base or Mars exploration, i.e. what if this had happened in space? It’s a hidden one of the space agency’s recruiting too many astronauts in the first place. They’ve created a surplus of high achievers chasing too few flights. Not to mention the problem of what to do with them after the peak experience they’ve been aiming at for so long is suddenly over? Nowak waited a decade before finally getting into low orbit last summer. Her chances of flying again before another decade passed were poor even before her escapade made them nonexistent.

UPDATE Nowak has pleaded not guilty to charges of attempted murder. 

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Love on the launch pad

Posted on February 6, 2007 | Comments Off on Love on the launch pad

It ain’t rocket science. It’s plain old adultery and attempted kidnapping and murder. I’m sure everyone and his cousin will have something to say about NASA astronaut and Navy Capt. Lisa Nowak, 43, before she finally fades from view–probably behind prison walls. Wonkette is already calling her a "diaper-clad nutbucket." And there’s this little irony. But really. I guess it just goes to show that not even a Naval Academy degree, pilot wings, an 0-6 rank, having three children and flying in Earth orbit can change the fundamentals. Among them: that the heart, to borrow the title of the Carson Mccullers’ tale, is a lonely hunter.

UPDATE  As NYTimes science writer John Tierney says, wow, people are finally talking about the space shuttle. Unfortunately, it’s about another tragic crash.

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Posted in Scribbles, Space

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181 things to do on the moon

Posted on February 2, 2007 | Comments Off on 181 things to do on the moon

Not a joke list, or even a few of the more serious, yet non-scientific, things I could think of to try in near weightlessness. But a list of scientific things to do, such as studying the color of Earth’s oceans to gauge their health, and analyzing Earth’s atmosphere to learn how it really works. The one I like the best is this:

"A radio telescope on the far side of the Moon would be shielded from Earth’s copious radio noise, and would be able to observe low radio frequencies blocked by Earth’s atmosphere. Observations at these frequencies have never been made before and opening up a window into this low frequency universe will likely lead to many exciting new discoveries."

Read the whole list here. 

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Posted in Science/Engineering, Space

Today’s pretty picture

Posted on February 2, 2007 | Comments Off on Today’s pretty picture

ngc1300_hst.jpg

 Barred Spiral Galaxy. Just 70 million light years away. Why, you could make it a weekend/HST NASA

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Posted in Space