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This Week In Space: 2010 - The End of the Space Shuttle Era
2010 marks the beginning of the end for the US Space Shuttle program. Only 5 more space shuttle missions remain on the flight manifest and those flights are on target to be completed by the end of...
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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.
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