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No New Earth for now, but add 5 more planets to the 412...
...known exoplanets. 351 of those planets revolve around distant stars. The others are celestial nomads. Yesterday, astronomers from NASA's Ames Research Center announced the discovery of five...
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From WISE eyes...the stars like dust.
The 'first-light' photo from the Widefield Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) which currently orbits Earth was released today. The photo was taken shortly after the protective cover was ejected on...
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The slowly vaporizing planet
Remember CoRoT-7b the rocky world only 1.7 Earth mass that speeds around its sun in 20 hours and has surface temperatures in excess of 3600 degrees Fahrenheit? Well the poor little lump of molten rock...
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SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket set to launch in March w/ Update
SpaceX has completed the final test firing of the Falcon 9 2nd stage motor at MacGregor test facility in Texas. The 2nd stage motor is now being packed up and shipped to Kennedy Space Center for...
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WTF?! Trees on Mars...?!
This is really a picture of the surface of Mars. My heart almost stopped when I saw it. Unfortunately, this is not evidence for life. So take a deep breath. Sigh. On his Bad Astronomy page, Phil Plait,...
View ArticleGeorge Tiller murderer may only be convicted of voluntary manslaughter
This news seems to have gone unnoticed. At least I have tried various tags and stories and have found nothing, so my apologies if this has already been diaried. Last Friday, the Kansas judge...
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Is it a UFO?...Is it an old spacecraft?...Is it an...
ASTEROID!? The object known as 2010 AL30 has been the subject of much speculation in the media this week as it passed by Earth from 76,000 miles. There was some suggestion that 2010 NL30 may have been...
View ArticleGuess what guys....we get to stick around a while longer.
palantir posted this news article in Overnight News Digest - SciTech Thursday about the Y chromosome. As most of you know, the Y chromosome is what makes us guys...well guys. And it was common...
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A farm on Mars!?...A ski resort on Mars!?...What's next!?...
Looks like somebody did some plowing? What name does Mother Nature go by on Mars? This is a real image of Mars. She sculpted out these nearly perfect straight rows of dunes on the floor of a crater...
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Support human missions to Uranus and Neptune
According to this Astronomy Now article, Uranus and Neptune may in fact have an 'ocean of diamond' floating around their central cores. OK. I am sold. Forget the Moon. Forget Mars. Let's send humans...
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NASA is having a garage sale. Anyone want a space shuttle?
For $28.8 million this beaut could be yours! Want a real used space suit? Be prepared to plunk down half a mil. Want a piece of space equipment from the Apollo days? Just click here! Beware though, if...
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This Week In Space: President Obama and the future of NASA (w/ Pootie Pic)
This Tuesday, President Obama will be giving the State of the Union speech and many in the spaceflight community are wondering if he will have anything to say about NASA's future. My instinct is that...
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Cat's Paw Nebula: Proof that Pooties Rule the Universe
This stunning new image of the Cat's Paw Nebula, aka NGC 6334, was taken by the European Southern Observatory with the Wide Field Imager camera on its 2.2 meter telescope at La Silla Observatory in...
View ArticleThe Dark Dunes of Mars: A Slideshow
An immense dune field covers much of the northern polar region of Mars. Often, after major windstorms, dark dunes of basaltic sands can be seen scattered across the polar region, some of them in the...
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This Week In Space: I Am An Orphan Of Apollo
NASA and human spaceflight have rarely if ever been a partisan issue. Back in the day, James Webb shrewdly made sure that plenty of NASA money got spread around to major states like California,...
View ArticleSAVE CONSTELLATION: NASA employees strike back w/ video and update
The Constellation program is not dead. The program has not been cancelled. The FY2011 NASA budget proposal scrapping Constellation, Ares I, Ares V, and Orion has not been approved by Congress at this...
View ArticlePluto...we hardly knew ya...but you are still the 9th rock from the Sun
This photo animation of Pluto is provided by courtesy of NASA and the Southwest Research Institute and is based on images taken by the Hubble Space Telescope taken back in 2002 that have just been...
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The last blast of fire under the silver moon
Early tomorrow morning will be the last night launch of the US space shuttle. NASA plans to launch the Endeavour at approximately 04:39 EST from Kennedy Space Center. It is also the fifth to last...
View ArticleThis Week In Space: NASA Administrator Charles Bolden speaks frankly
My thanks to Bill White for providing me with the link to the YouTube video featuring this NASA Q&A press conference with NASA Administrator Charles Bolden discussing the new FY2011 budget proposal.
View ArticleSpace Shuttle Endeavour soars into history...Plus: Space-themed Super Bowl Ads
Watch the last night launch of the space shuttle fleet. The Space Shuttle Endeavour is carrying the last major structure of International Space station, Tranquility node, along with a 7-window cupola....
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Welcome to Andromeda
Courtesy of WISE. The image above is a mosaic of Andromeda Galaxy, a.k.a Messier 31 (M31), at 4 different IR wavelengths. The image along with a number of other photos were just released be NASA...
View ArticleWhat happens when a rocket meets a sundog? A ripple in the sky
Phil Plait over at Bad Astronomy posted this video. If it is indeed real as he believes, then the atmospheric effects are truely incredible. A number of observers also claim to have seen the special...
View ArticleA view of Earth and space from up here. Plus: Video of President Obama in...
The Space Shuttle Endeavour is disembarking from the International Space Station where the new Tranquility node was installed this week with a 7-window cupola that shows some fantastic, tantalizing...
View ArticleFalcon 9 rises...
SpaceX Media Relations just sent me these new photos of SpaceX's Falcon 9 which is now vertical and mounted to its launch tower on the launch pad.
View ArticleRep Alan Grayson rips new NASA plans
Although some of Rep. Grayson's comments were not technically correct concerning Augustine report, his concluding remark is right on. As you can tell he was not too happy about the administration's...
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Aerospace Workers on Florida's Space Coast Rally for Jobs
If this picture is worth a thousand words, then this video covering a rally of local workers should be worth considerably more. This is not a Tea Party rally. This is rally of aerospace workers who...
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When an space artist dies... (w/ Note)
...a new star is born. Probably one of Robert McCall's most famous paintings. An entire generation of Americans grew up seeing this painting on movie posters, video boxes, and book covers. The...
View ArticlePresident Obama has succeeded in unifying a bipartisan Florida Congressional...
Finally President Obama has been able to build a bipartisan consensus with the full Florida Congressional delegation, 11 Democrats and 16 Republicans.Is this about healthcare reform?Is this about...
View ArticleI Am Sorry I Am Not an Obamabot...
There must be something wrong with my programming. Somebody please fix me.I support his policy in Afghanistan. (Not a popular policy on DKos)I support troop withdrawals from Iraq. (I thought he did.)I...
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Do you want to be a Web astronomer?
Have you ever wanted to go stargazing, but just did not have the money, time, and nerve? The idea of lugging around heavy equipment and spending all night out in the open to observe stars not...
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600 million tons of water on the Moon
You may have heard of LCROSS, the NASA probe intentionally crashed into the lunar surface to find evidence of water. But have you heard of Chandrayaan-1? The Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO)...
View ArticleVideo and photos of SpaceX Falcon 9 static fire test
Yesterday at around 12:30 pm EST, SpaceX conducted a successful static fire test of the Falcon 9 rocket lasting 3.5 seconds at their launch pad located in Kennedy Space Center. This test is prelude to...
View ArticleWill a lava lamp work on Jupiter?
Neil Fraser, a software engineer for Google, got into a debate as to whether a lava lamp, which apparently are commonplace at Google's headquarters, would still work in a high gravity environment like...
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150 engines that roar!
The rocket engines shown to the left are the most efficient rocket motors in their class. Burning a liquid oxygen/rocket grade kerosene fuel mixture (LOX/RP-1) they have the highest thrust to weight...
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Extinction Level Event? Forget the Asteroid! There's a friggin' STAR headed...
A orange dwarf star known as Gliese 710 is headed toward our solar system from 63 light years out. It will likely smash through the Oort Cloud in about 1.45 million years according to new study based...
View ArticleSince I won the bet...
In that rather bad hate diary I bet 10 bucks that this diary would end up on Saturday's hate-mailapalooza.Ten bucks...says this diary is going to be in the hatemail palooza come Saturday.and there the...
View ArticleConspurracy diary: Pooties' ebil plan to take ovar the wuld...(videos)
The pooties are rising up and attacking innocent babes and woozles! Here are video proofs of pootie fights and attacks. I am posting a few of them, you can go watch the rest at Huff Post. They are just...
View ArticleThe real reasons the Republicans don't support HCR legislation (Hint: 1993)
Remember 1993? When President Clinton co-opted the Republican agenda and so began the era of the 'New Democrats'. A Democrat who was promoting and passing the Republicans' agenda in free trade,...
View ArticleKansas just declared open season on students, professors, and liberals w/ update
Just when you thought Kansas couldn't get any wackier and more dangerous, those Kansas lawmakers up the ante. Despite opposition from Kansas Board of Regents, the League of Kansas Municipalities,...
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Breaking! Pacman just ate the Death Star!
One of Saturn's more unusual moons, Mimas, just got a little weirder. The Cassini spacecraft took surface temperature measurements of Mimas around February 13 to create a composite map displayed on...
View ArticleHubble Gotchu by Milky J
Last week, on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, Milky J appeared to defend the Hubble Space Telescope against the upcoming new James Webb Space Telescope:
View ArticleThe Seven Humanisms
I just recently read a paper detailing in brief 7 definitions or perspectives on humanism written by John Weston a former minister of Unitarian Universalist church that I attend on a regular basis. I...
View ArticleThe new Islamic Center project is ummm...WOW!
WOW! NPR just posted some pictures of the new Islamic cultural center proposed for the Park51 site and WOW! I must say that the building looks amazing and impressive. Sharif El-Gamal has shown some...
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Some Weekend Snow Fun - Photos
On Saturday, my 9-year-old son and I worked on building a snow rocket outside on the front lawn of our house while our neighbor across the street worked on his own snow sculpture. We had a lot of fun...
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SEAMUS FOR OBAMA
Gail Collins has been almost fanatical about mentioning Mitt Romney's dog being strapped to the roof of the car on a family vacation to Canada. Rob Reiner mentioned the incident in last night on...
View ArticleKansas panel debating keeping President off ballot.
Once again Kansas is hogging the title for most insane state in the nation as a three member panel debate as to whether to keep President Obama off the ballot because of birther complaints. Secretary...
View ArticleWith Friends Like These...
I have a number of Tea Party friends on Facebook who for some reason still have not defriended me yet. I keep them around because I like to be able to gauge just how crazy the Republicans can get. They...
View ArticleSo who has the guts...
to follow US Rep Emmanuel Cleaver's example (D, 5th District, Missouri)? He just posted this comment on his Facebook page:"For all who have asked, I will not accept a paycheck until our fellow federal...
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The Fall of an Empire (photo)
While I was walking in Kansas City's famed Loose Park, I happened upon this sign in the front yard of a nearby house. The neighborhood surrounding the park consists of upper class homes. Apparently,...
View ArticleIf a librarian is arrested in the library will anybody read about it?
So here I was getting ready for work another beautiful evening, when this article popped into my Facebook newsfeed from Dissent Newswire on Bill of Rights Defense Committee (BORDC) website concerning a...
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