NASA
Test-Firing of SpaceX Falcon Rocket Aborted
There's flame in the trenches, but not the one Space Exploration Technologies was hoping for, as it counted down Tuesday afternoon to the first test-firing of its new Falcon 9 rocket. Two seconds before the rocket's nine motors were to ...
Launch Pad 2010 open for, um, launch
Last year, I attended the NASA-sponsored Launch Pad Workshop, a week-long camp in Laramie, Wyoming, to help science fiction authors learn astronomy. That way, they can get ideas and write more accurate stories! It was a lot of fun, and I had a fantastic time.
Registration is open again for Launch Pad 2010, with guest speaker Kevin Grazier, who is a planetary scientist and science advisor for TV shows, including Battlestar Galactica.
Launch Pad will be from July 11 – 18, 2010, and if you’re a science fiction author you can apply to attend from now until March 31. And if you are an author, I urge you to go. It’s more than just getting the science right; it’s about inspiration, and there’s plenty to be had in astronomy. Launch Pad is a great way to meet it head on.
Obama to Host Space Summit in Florida
Say what you like about President Obama, but at least he’s no coward. Otherwise, the last place he’d want to show his face is central Florida, ground zero for the next tsunami of job layoffs following the retirement of the ...
Obama to Unveil "Ambitous" Plan for NASA
Bolden: There is No "Plan B" In Development
Garver and Bolden after they were sworn into office. Credit: NASA
Podcast: Behind the Scenes at NASA TV
The view from the KSC TV control room looking out at the press auditorium where press conferences are held. Image: Nancy Atkinson
Listen to the audio of this podcast at this link.
You can also read the interviews below.
Could the Tumbleweed Rover Dominate Mars?
We've explored Mars with satellites, landers and rovers, could the next robotic exploration vehicle be spherical in shape and inspired by the humble wind-blown tumbleweed?
Senator Proposes Shuttle Extension Hail Mary
The turmoil and political maneuvering over the future of NASA continues in the wake of the Obama administration’s cancellation of the Constellation program.
Senator Kay Bailey Hutchinson, a Texas Republican, proposed adding $3.4 billion to the agency’s budget between 2010 and 2012 to extend operation of the Shuttle until NASA is confident that a replacement vehicle is available.
When NASA scoped out a similar Shuttle extension plan [pdf] in April 2009, they determined that a Shuttle extension through fiscal year 2012 would require at least $4.6 billion.
JWST shade in the made
The James Webb Space Telescope is NASA”s successor to Hubble. Mind you, it’s not a replacement: JWST will see in the infrared, peering deeper into the Universe with it’s ginormous 6 meter unfoldable mirror than Hubble can.
But that infrared part is important. Objects that are warm give off IR light, and if you don’t cool your telescope, it’ll glow in the wavelengths you’re trying to see. It would be like having a flashlight shining down your ’scope!
So JWST has to be cooled, and since it’ll be in a spot in space where the Sun shines 24/7 (the so-called L2 point, where the Sun’s and Earth’s gravity balances), it basically needs a sunshade. And also since the ’scope is pretty big, the shade itself has to be sizable.
Spirit Hunkered Down for Winter; Stuck Forever ? Maybe Not !
Mosaic of microscopic images of Spirit underbelly on Sol 1925 (June 2009) showing the predicament of being stuck at Troy with wheels buried in the sulfate-rich martian soil. The sulfate deposits formed by aqueous (water-related) processes when this area dubbed “Home Plate’ was volcanically active. This false color mosaic has been enhanced and stretched to bring out additional details about the surrounding terrain and embedded wheels and distinctly show a pointy rock perhaps in contact with the underbelly. Spirit fortuitously discovered extensive new evidence for an environment of flowing liquid water at this location on Mars adjacent to ‘Home Plate’, an eroded over volcanic feature. Credit: Marco Di Lorenzo, Ken Kremer - NASA/JPL/Cornell
The plucky Mars rover ‘Spirit’ may yet rove again !
