Published September 9, 2006
in Space.
From NASA:
Space Shuttle Atlantis lifted off from Kennedy Space Center and charged into the midday Florida sky on a mission to boost power on the International Space Station. The launch was on time, with liftoff at 11:15 a.m. EDT. Over the 11-day mission, the six-member crew will perform three spacewalks to install the P3/P4 integrated truss and solar arrays on the station, doubling the current power generating capability of the orbiting outpost.
NASA TV will carry a post-launch news conference at around 12PM EST and will hopefully have more information on the technical glitch Atlantis had just before it reached orbit.
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Published August 16, 2006
in Space.
Our corner of the galaxy just got a little bit more crowded:
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Here’s the deal. There is a subgroup in the International Astronomical Union that decides about the naming of names, and the categorizing of, um, categories for astronomical objects. For quite some time, they have been pondering whether to call Pluto a planet or not. There has been a lot of controversy about this, mostly in the media and the public, since most astronomers don’t care all that much.
Consistant with everything ever decided by a committee, it gets a bit more complicated. Long story short: not only does Pluto retain it’s planet status, but several other celestial objects also meet the definition. At a meeting due to happen on August 24th, the IAU will meet again and, quite possibly, increase our solar system from 9 planets to 12.
Go forth and learn.
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Published August 14, 2006
in Space.
From CNN:
The U.S. government has misplaced the original recording of the first moon landing, including astronaut Neil Armstrong’s famous “one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind,” a NASA spokesman said on Monday.
Memo to NASA: Keep an eye on Ebay.
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Published July 17, 2006
in Space.
A picture perfect landing after an almost perfect mission. Odds are excellent that Atlantis will launch in August and Discovery will launch again in December. I hear that the odds are also excellent now for one last servicing mission for the Hubble telescope. That’s awesome news for us ‘armchair astronauts’.
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I didn’t have a chance to post this yesterday. After Discovery reached orbit, I had two anxious boys dragging me by my hair out the door to the carnival. For those of you interested in such geeky things, NASA TV has complete coverage of the STS-121 mission (click on “Watch NASA TV” on that page and it will pop up in a new window).
I had planned to take the kids camping at the lake yesterday after the carnival but found out, much to my dismay, that the town that puts on the fireworks display over the lake didn’t have money to do it this year. WTF? It was no big deal though…the town we live in puts on their display practically in my backyard, so we hung out in the parking lot and watched. I just LOVE watching shit blow up!
I will say one thing for this tiny little town of mine (population: 3000): they put on a good 4th of July shindig. Parade, carnival, town-wide cookout and a good sized fireworks display. The festivities always kick off with a flyby, courtesy of our local Air National Guard:
A pair of A-10s and a pair of F-15s sneak up on this sleepy little town and fly low over the parade route. The first year I lived here, you can bet that the noise almost sent me into a duck and cover position, but now it’s my favorite part of the day. I climb up on the roof so I can see them coming and they fly so low that you could probably see the rivets on the bottom of the plane if they weren’t going so fast. Good times, indeed!
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Published July 4, 2006
in Space.
The loading of Discovery’s orange external tank with 500,000 gallons of liquid oxygen and hydrogen began at 4:32 a.m. EDT today. The tank is now full and will be continuously “topped off” with propellants until Discovery’s launch. All systems onboard the space shuttle are functioning normally and are ready for liftoff.
Currently, there is an 80-percent chance of favorable weather forecasted for launch time. If the weather cooperates, Discovery will liftoff at 2:38 p.m. for the International Space Station and be the first Independence Day launch of a space shuttle! [Source]
Yeah. I’m a geek. Shut up.
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Being somewhat of a space geek, I fought long and hard to get into an Astronomy class this term. The class filled up quite fast and I wasn’t quick enough, so I was placed on a waiting list. Two days after the term started, someone else dropped the class and I was admitted.
The course description led me to believe that it was a math-lite class, meaning that only basic mathematical concepts would be covered. Anything up to and including algebra, I can easily handle. I’m not a math dummy, but I’m no genius either.
The course description flat out LIES.
We’re covering physics, people. ASTROPHYSICS. I am SO lost that I can’t even begin to tell you. I’m holding my own with it so far, but it’s tough. I usually won’t accept the thought of pulling anything less than an A- in any class, but I’ve got to lower my standards for this class when I look at problems like this:
va2 = ( 8.871 X 108 / a ) ( 1 - e ) / ( 1 + e )
I’m handling other areas of the class quite well, but the math is going to kill me. I’m wondering if there’s an Astrophysics for Dummies book out yet?
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Like most space junkies, I expect the last week of January to be one of reflection and remembrance. This year, I’m having trouble reconciling the fact that it’s been TWENTY years since the Challenger accident.
I was 15 years old on January 28, 1986. My mother had recently been diagnosed with cancer and was feeling really fragile that morning, so I stayed home from school to take care of her. I was actually quite disappointed to be missing school that day. Christa McAuliffe was to be the first teacher in space and, since I lived in her home state of New Hampshire, every school in the state had special activities planned to watch the launch on the feed that NASA had provided to schools all over the country.
I was doomed to stay at home and miss the launch. I remember switching our big ole satellite dish from one position to the next trying to find a station…ANY station…carrying the launch live. I finally gave up at around 11:30 and put on the Price Is Right.
The breaking news alert chimed in about 10 minutes later and I was so excited, thinking that they had decided to carry the launch live…or at least give a replay. I don’t think I actually heard the tone that the anchorperson was using and didn’t realize anything was wrong until the shuttle exploded.
That was a defining moment for me for several reasons. First, it shook my faith in an organization that I truly admired but didn’t fully understand. To a kid with an above average interest in spaceflight, NASA engineers were nothing short of magicians and astronauts were nothing less than Gods. I, and a lot of other Americans had put NASA on a pedestal and there was no where for them to go but down. Second, I found myself part of a generation dealing with their very first national tragedy. Those of us born in the 70’s were too young to appreciate the end of Vietnam, Watergate and the assassination attempt on President Reagan. That ball of fire at 46,000 feet burned itself into the brains of my entire generation as our first “Where were you when…?” moment.
Many more of those moments have occurred for us since then but, like a first love, you never forget your first.
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