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Spacevidcast
27 Jul 2010, 22:12 UTC
Introduction to the NewSpace 2010 Conference: Where does the NewSpace industry currently stand and where is it likely to go in the future? Speaker: Jim Muncy Co-Founder, Space Frontier Foundation, President, PoliSpace Day 1 – 8:30am to 9:00am
NewSpace 2010: NewSpace Today
27 Jul 2010, 22:12 UTC
Introduction to the NewSpace 2010 Conference: Where does the NewSpace industry currently stand and where is it likely to go in the future? Speaker: Jim Muncy Co-Founder, Space Frontier Foundation, President, PoliSpace Day 1 – 8:30am to 9:00am
The Planetary Society Blog
27 Jul 2010, 19:04 UTC
Here are two newly processed portraits of Saturn, showing the planet just after its equinox; the shadows of the rings are widening in a band that is slowly moving downward across the southern hemisphere. The rings appear pretty dark, since the Sun strikes them at a very low angle. They're newly processed images, by Gordan Ugarkovic -- but they are not new images. These are Voyager 1 and Voyager 2's departing shots of Saturn, taken on December ....
Voyager at Saturn, one year later
27 Jul 2010, 19:04 UTC
Here are two newly processed portraits of Saturn, showing the planet just after its equinox; the shadows of the rings are widening in a band that is slowly moving downward across the southern hemisphere. The rings appear pretty dark, since the Sun strikes them at a very low angle. They're newly processed images, by Gordan Ugarkovic -- but they are not new images. These are Voyager 1 and Voyager 2's departing shots of Saturn, taken on December ....
Discovery News - Space News
27 Jul 2010, 18:15 UTC
Astronaut foods may appear indestructible, but many crew favorites don't retain their nutrition or palatability for even a year.
Food for Mars: A Daunting Challenge
27 Jul 2010, 18:15 UTC
Astronaut foods may appear indestructible, but many crew favorites don't retain their nutrition or palatability for even a year.
Universe Today
27 Jul 2010, 17:59 UTC
Asteroid trackers from Spain have upgraded the chance that asteroid 1999 RQ36 has a one-in-a-thousand chance of impacting the Earth in the year 2182. Previous estimates gave a 1 in 1,400 chance that this asteroid could strike Earth sometime between 2169 and 2199. Currently, however, NASA's Near Earth Object website gives between a 1 in [...] Doppler data on asteroid 1999 RQ36 from Goldstone. Credit: NASAAsteroid trackers from Spain have upgraded the chance that asteroid 1999 RQ36 has a one-in-a-thousand chance of impacting the Earth in the year 2182. Previous estimates gave a 1 in 1,400 chance that this asteroid could strike Earth sometime between 2169 and 2199. Currently, however, NASA's Near Earth Object website gives between a 1 in 3,850 and a 1 in 3,570 chance that 1999 RQ35 could potentially impact Earth on Sept. 24, 2182. To make everyone breathe a little easier, that's a 99.97200000% chance the asteroid will completely miss the Earth.1999 RQ36 is an asteroid that has been suggested for a robotic sample return mission, to help us learn more about the makeup of NEOs, especially those that have a potential threat to Earth. (...)Read the rest of Researchers Say Asteroid Has 1 in 1,000 ...
Researchers Say Asteroid Has 1 in 1,000 Chance of Hitting Earth in 2182
27 Jul 2010, 17:59 UTC
Asteroid trackers from Spain have upgraded the chance that asteroid 1999 RQ36 has a one-in-a-thousand chance of impacting the Earth in the year 2182. Previous estimates gave a 1 in 1,400 chance that this asteroid could strike Earth sometime between 2169 and 2199. Currently, however, NASA's Near Earth Object website gives between a 1 in [...] Doppler data on asteroid 1999 RQ36 from Goldstone. Credit: NASAAsteroid trackers from Spain have upgraded the chance that asteroid 1999 RQ36 has a one-in-a-thousand chance of impacting the Earth in the year 2182. Previous estimates gave a 1 in 1,400 chance that this asteroid could strike Earth sometime between 2169 and 2199. Currently, however, NASA's Near Earth Object website gives between a 1 in 3,850 and a 1 in 3,570 chance that 1999 RQ35 could potentially impact Earth on Sept. 24, 2182. To make everyone breathe a little easier, that's a 99.97200000% chance the asteroid will completely miss the Earth.1999 RQ36 is an asteroid that has been suggested for a robotic sample return mission, to help us learn more about the makeup of NEOs, especially those that have a potential threat to Earth. (...)Read the rest of Researchers Say Asteroid Has 1 in 1,000 ...
AmericaSpace
27 Jul 2010, 16:31 UTC
As reported by the Boulder County Business Report in Ball completes docking demonstration, Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp., Lockheed Martin Space Systems Company and NASA conducted a successful technology demonstration of a navigation system designed to make docking operations safer and easier for spacecraft flying to the International Space Station. Good to hear Orion is [...]
Orion Docking Demonstration Completed
27 Jul 2010, 16:31 UTC
As reported by the Boulder County Business Report in Ball completes docking demonstration, Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp., Lockheed Martin Space Systems Company and NASA conducted a successful technology demonstration of a navigation system designed to make docking operations safer and easier for spacecraft flying to the International Space Station. Good to hear Orion is [...]
Space Fellowship
27 Jul 2010, 15:30 UTC
Flight Engineers Fyodor Yurchikhin and Mikhail Kornienko concluded a six-hour, 42-minute spacewalk Tuesday at 6:53 a.m. EDT. The cosmonauts began their spacewalk when they opened the hatches of the Pirs docking compartment at 12:11 a.m. This was the 147th spacewalk overall in support of station assembly and maintenance. The cosmonauts wore their Russian Orlan spacesuits to outfit the new Rassvet module for a Kurs automated rendezvous system capability for future dockings of Russian vehicles [...]
Cosmonauts Complete First Expedition 24 Spacewalk
27 Jul 2010, 15:30 UTC
Flight Engineers Fyodor Yurchikhin and Mikhail Kornienko concluded a six-hour, 42-minute spacewalk Tuesday at 6:53 a.m. EDT. The cosmonauts began their spacewalk when they opened the hatches of the Pirs docking compartment at 12:11 a.m. This was the 147th spacewalk overall in support of station assembly and maintenance. The cosmonauts wore their Russian Orlan spacesuits to outfit the new Rassvet module for a Kurs automated rendezvous system capability for future dockings of Russian vehicles [...]
Bad Astronomy
27 Jul 2010, 13:00 UTC
[I know I already posted this, but the video of the trailer had to be taken down, fixed, and put back up, so I'm reposting to give everyone a chance to actually watch it. Everything works now. Yay! Also, it's up on reddit (actually twice) and Fark, too.] Finally, at last, after many months, I can now officially reveal the Sooper Sekrit Project that has kept me so busy over all this time. I think you’re gonna like this… so why not just jump right in to the teaser trailer posted online by a small TV network you may have heard of called THE DISCOVERY CHANNEL! [evil laugh] How ’bout that? I’ve been working with the Discovery Channel on hosting a new TV science show called "Phil Plait’s Bad Universe". It’s a three-part program where I dissect issues in astronomy and science, putting claims to the test. There’s no air date yet, but I’m hoping it’ll be on your TV sets this fall. As you can see in the trailer, the first episode is about asteroid impacts, and we tackle the issue in a way that I don’t think has been done on TV. I get right into the mix, ...
Bad Universe coming to a Discovery Channel near you
27 Jul 2010, 13:00 UTC
[I know I already posted this, but the video of the trailer had to be taken down, fixed, and put back up, so I'm reposting to give everyone a chance to actually watch it. Everything works now. Yay! Also, it's up on reddit (actually twice) and Fark, too.] Finally, at last, after many months, I can now officially reveal the Sooper Sekrit Project that has kept me so busy over all this time. I think you’re gonna like this… so why not just jump right in to the teaser trailer posted online by a small TV network you may have heard of called THE DISCOVERY CHANNEL! [evil laugh] How ’bout that? I’ve been working with the Discovery Channel on hosting a new TV science show called "Phil Plait’s Bad Universe". It’s a three-part program where I dissect issues in astronomy and science, putting claims to the test. There’s no air date yet, but I’m hoping it’ll be on your TV sets this fall. As you can see in the trailer, the first episode is about asteroid impacts, and we tackle the issue in a way that I don’t think has been done on TV. I get right into the mix, ...
Pillow Astronaut
27 Jul 2010, 13:00 UTC
This is almost better than the Alien Abduction Prevention Helmet. Almost.Such is the advertisement from a 1963 issue of Warren Publications' Screen Thrills Illustrated, which mostly covered "classic" (I guess today we would say "cult") films from the 1920-1940s. Printing only periodically between 1962 and 1965, they published only ten issues… but what gems. O my.They featured the Captain Company offering a GENUINE OFFICIAL U.S. GOVERNMENT SURPLUS SPACE SUIT!Yes, because the government created space suits for their dozen or so astronauts in the early 1960s and happened to have hundreds left over.But who cares. 7 pounds! 8 Zippers! Elastic Air Compression Chambers! Air hoses and airlock valves! What, no helmet that dispenses Tang? Ah well, what do you expect for $7.95.In 1963, that was about the modern equivalent of 50 bucks. They claim it cost over $180 to create… well, that would be over a thousand dollars in today's terms.It's a real shame this company no longer exists, because I think this would sell very well today. Sadly, we now have to go to cheap costume outlets to get our astronaut fix.Just don't go to hockey games and dance like a doof just to get on the JumboTron. It's been ...
Speaking of SpaceSuits
27 Jul 2010, 13:00 UTC
This is almost better than the Alien Abduction Prevention Helmet. Almost.Such is the advertisement from a 1963 issue of Warren Publications' Screen Thrills Illustrated, which mostly covered "classic" (I guess today we would say "cult") films from the 1920-1940s. Printing only periodically between 1962 and 1965, they published only ten issues… but what gems. O my.They featured the Captain Company offering a GENUINE OFFICIAL U.S. GOVERNMENT SURPLUS SPACE SUIT!Yes, because the government created space suits for their dozen or so astronauts in the early 1960s and happened to have hundreds left over.But who cares. 7 pounds! 8 Zippers! Elastic Air Compression Chambers! Air hoses and airlock valves! What, no helmet that dispenses Tang? Ah well, what do you expect for $7.95.In 1963, that was about the modern equivalent of 50 bucks. They claim it cost over $180 to create… well, that would be over a thousand dollars in today's terms.It's a real shame this company no longer exists, because I think this would sell very well today. Sadly, we now have to go to cheap costume outlets to get our astronaut fix.Just don't go to hockey games and dance like a doof just to get on the JumboTron. It's been ...
13.7
27 Jul 2010, 12:00 UTC
Why should scientists work on questions so removed from everyday life when they could be working on a cure for malaria or on a cost-effective alternative energy fuels? In this post, a offer a brief sketch of a basic science apology. by Marcelo Gleiser Quite often, either through emails or in public lectures, I am criticized, along with thousands of other colleagues, for dedicating my time to basic science and not to more immediate problems faced by society. Why should I research the origin of the universe or of life, or the physics of black holes, when so many are suffering from hunger, disease and abject poverty? Instead, the well-intentioned critics argue, scientists should be working collectively to improve people’s quality of life and to decrease human suffering, not wondering about how stars shine or what are the basic building blocks of matter. They go on: “Why should scientists “waste their time” with questions that are so removed from everyday life when they could be working on a cure for malaria or trying to come up with cost-effective alternative energy fuels? Don’t they have the ethical obligation to use their talents to help others? And they use public funds for ...
In Defense Of Basic Science
27 Jul 2010, 12:00 UTC
Why should scientists work on questions so removed from everyday life when they could be working on a cure for malaria or on a cost-effective alternative energy fuels? In this post, a offer a brief sketch of a basic science apology. by Marcelo Gleiser Quite often, either through emails or in public lectures, I am criticized, along with thousands of other colleagues, for dedicating my time to basic science and not to more immediate problems faced by society. Why should I research the origin of the universe or of life, or the physics of black holes, when so many are suffering from hunger, disease and abject poverty? Instead, the well-intentioned critics argue, scientists should be working collectively to improve people’s quality of life and to decrease human suffering, not wondering about how stars shine or what are the basic building blocks of matter. They go on: “Why should scientists “waste their time” with questions that are so removed from everyday life when they could be working on a cure for malaria or trying to come up with cost-effective alternative energy fuels? Don’t they have the ethical obligation to use their talents to help others? And they use public funds for ...
Discovery News - Space News
27 Jul 2010, 11:00 UTC
Two space probes are given a new lease on life after being rerouted for a mission to unravel the composition of the moon.
