Category: Behind The Black
The most distant explosion ever seen
The Spitzer photo atlas of galactic “train wrecks”
A photo atlas of galactic “train wrecks.”
A photo atlas of galactic “train wrecks.”
Asteroid sample return mission on slate for 2016
Asteroid sample return mission on slate for NASA in 2016. The asteroid chosen in 1999 RQ36, which is significant.
The space rock has been classified as a potentially hazardous asteroid, since its orbit brings it close to Earth in the year 2182. There is an extremely remote chance (a recent study pegs it at about 1-in-1000) that the 1,900-foot-wide (579-meter) asteroid could pose a threat to Earth.
Asteroid sample return mission on slate for NASA in 2016. The asteroid chosen in 1999 RQ36, which is significant.
The space rock has been classified as a potentially hazardous asteroid, since its orbit brings it close to Earth in the year 2182. There is an extremely remote chance (a recent study pegs it at about 1-in-1000) that the 1,900-foot-wide (579-meter) asteroid could pose a threat to Earth.
Orion must wait for heavy-lift rocket
More evidence to me it will never fly: Orion must wait for heavy-lift rocket.
More evidence to me it will never fly: Orion must wait for heavy-lift rocket.
Rep. Ryan agrees that his plan played a role in Democrats’ special-election win
Rep. Ryan agreed today that his budget plan played a role in Democrats’ special-election win in New York yesterday.
If Ryan is right, we are in big trouble. His plan might not be the solution, but the Democrats refuse to offer any alternatives. And if it is this Democratic non-plan that the public is choosing, it means that the public remains unwilling to deal with the debt in any way at all.
Rep. Ryan agreed today that his budget plan played a role in Democrats’ special-election win in New York yesterday.
If Ryan is right, we are in big trouble. His plan might not be the solution, but the Democrats refuse to offer any alternatives. And if it is this Democratic non-plan that the public is choosing, it means that the public remains unwilling to deal with the debt in any way at all.
“We stand for freedom.”
Fifty years ago today, John Kennedy stood before Congress and the nation and declared that the United States was going to the Moon. Amazingly, though this is by far the most remembered speech Kennedy ever gave, very few people remember why he gave the speech, and what he was actually trying to achieve by making it.
Above all, going to the Moon and exploring space was not his primary goal.
The Context
For Kennedy — whose presidential campaign included an aggressive anti-communist stance against the Soviet Union — the months before the speech had not gone well. Five weeks earlier, for instance, the CIA-led attempt to invade Cuba and overthrow Castro’s communist government had ended in total failure. When Kennedy refused to lend direct military support to the Bay of Pigs invasion, the 1,200 man rebel force was quickly overcome. “How could I have been so stupid as to let them go ahead?” Kennedy complained privately to his advisors.
In Berlin, the tensions between the East and the West were continuing to escalate, and would lead in only a few short months to Khrushchev’s decision to build the Berlin Wall, sealing off East Berlin and the citizens of East Germany from the rest of the world.
In the race to beat the Soviets in space, things were going badly as well. NASA had announced the United States’ intention to put the first man into space sometime in the spring of 1961. The agency hoped that this flight would prove that the leader of the capitalist world still dominated the fields of technology, science, and exploration.
Originally scheduled for a March 6, 1961 launch, the short fifteen minute sub-orbital flight was repeatedly delayed. The Mercury capsule’s first test flight in January, with a chimpanzee as test pilot, rose forty miles higher than intended, overshot its landing by a hundred and thirty miles, and when the capsule was recovered three hours later it had begun leaking and was actually sinking. Then in March another test of the Mercury capsule included the premature firing of the escape rocket on top of the capsule, the unplanned release of the backup parachutes during descent, and the discovery of dents on the capsule itself.
These difficulties caused NASA to postpone repeatedly its first manned mission. First the agency rescheduled the launch to late March. Then early April. Then mid-April. And then it was too late.
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Pawlenty calls for Medicare and Social Security reform — in Florida
Now Tim Pawlenty has called for Medicare and Social Security reform — in Florida.
Once again, I don’t know how sincere Pawlenty really is, but he certainly has started his Presidential campaign challenging the voters to face hard realities.
Now Tim Pawlenty has called for Medicare and Social Security reform — in Florida.
Once again, I don’t know how sincere Pawlenty really is, but he certainly has started his Presidential campaign challenging the voters to face hard realities.
Mars Science Lab Seems OK After Mishap
A bullet dodged? The next Mars rover, the Mars Science Lab, appears to be okay after last week’s mishap.
NASA to abandon trapped rover Spirit
NASA has decided to abandon efforts to contact the rover Spirit, incommunicado for more than a year.
NASA has decided to abandon efforts to contact the rover Spirit, incommunicado for more than a year.
Kennedy’s Moon speech, May 25, 1961
An evening pause: Fifty years ago tomorrow, on May 25, 1961, John Kennedy spoke to Congress about the world situation and the war between freedom and tyranny. “We stand for freedom,” he began, and finished by committing the United States to sending a man to the Moon and bringing him back safely by the end of the decade.
The clip below shows the first five minutes of that speech. It makes it clear that Kennedy’s main point was not to send the United States to the stars, but to stake out our ground in the battle for freedom and democracy. I will write more about this tomorrow.
To see the whole speech, go to the following link at the Miller Center for Public Affairs.
Benjamin Netanyahu’s speech to Congress
Benjamin Netanyahu’s speech to Congress, both video and transcript.
If you want to watch or read a clear description of the real problems in the Middle East, you must watch or read this speech. It is all too rare in these sad days for political leaders to be so blunt.
Benjamin Netanyahu’s speech to Congress, both video and transcript.
If you want to watch or read a clear description of the real problems in the Middle East, you must watch or read this speech. It is all too rare in these sad days for political leaders to be so blunt.
NASA announces Orion program will continue
NASA announces that the Orion program will continue, though under a different name.
This is a non-announcement, made to appease those in Congress who are requiring NASA to build the program-formerly-called-Constellation. NASA will do as Congress demands, and in the process will build nothing while spending a lot of money for a rocket and space capsule that can’t be built for the amount budgeted.
NASA announces that the Orion program will continue, though under a different name.
This is a non-announcement, made to appease those in Congress who are requiring NASA to build the program-formerly-called-Constellation. NASA will do as Congress demands, and in the process will build nothing while spending a lot of money for a rocket and space capsule that can’t be built for the amount budgeted.
Evidence mounts for liquid water on Enceladus
Evidence mounts for liquid water on Enceladus.
Evidence mounts for liquid water on Enceladus.
Mars Science Lab Hardware Damaged
Facing a launch window that ends December 18, the next rover mission to Mars was damaged last week upon arriving at the Kennedy Space Center.
Facing a launch window that ends December 18, the next rover mission to Mars was damaged last week upon arriving at the Kennedy Space Center.
Obama signed the guestbook at Westminister Abbey with the wrong year.
What the hell? In signing the guestbook at Westminster Abbey today, Obama dated his comments 24 May, 2008.
What the hell? In signing the guestbook at Westminster Abbey today, Obama dated his comments 24 May, 2008.
Republicans propose cutting 12 percent of FDA’s budget
The next budget negotiations have started, and so has the squealing: Republicans propose cutting 12 percent of FDA’s budget.
Note that this would give the FDA a budget of $2.2 billion in 2012, about the same as its 2008 budget. Hardly painful if you ask me.
The next budget negotiations have started, and so has the squealing: Republicans propose cutting 12 percent of FDA’s budget.
Note that this would give the FDA a budget of $2.2 billion in 2012, about the same as its 2008 budget. Hardly painful if you ask me.
“[Until] you see the whole thing, you don’t realize how cumbersome it is.”
Is it a blimp? Is it a plane? It’s both!
Video: Is it a blimp? Is it a plane? It’s both!
Video: Is it a blimp? Is it a plane? It’s both!
Gasoline Prices by County
There is a pattern here: Gasoline prices by county.
There is a pattern here: Gasoline prices by county.
Another Soyuz upgrade in the works
Another Soyuz upgrade in the works.
Another Soyuz upgrade in the works.
Soyuz TMA-20 lands safely in Kazakhstan
Soyuz TMA-20 lands safely in Kazakhstan.
Soyuz TMA-20 lands safely in Kazakhstan.
UK Skylon spaceplane passes key review
The United Kingdom’s Skylon spaceplane has passed a key European Space Agency review.
I’ve seen hundreds of these kinds of stories over the years. Skylon looks cool, and would be revolutionary if built. We shall see if it actually happens.
The United Kingdom’s Skylon spaceplane has passed a key European Space Agency review.
I’ve seen hundreds of these kinds of stories over the years. Skylon looks cool, and would be revolutionary if built. We shall see if it actually happens.
A hint at what the Soyuz images of the station and shuttle
A hint at what today’s images of the station and shuttle, taken from the Soyuz capsule, will look like.
A hint at what today’s images of the station and shuttle, taken from the Soyuz capsule, will look like.
Satellite monitoring of new Iceland volcano eruption
Satellite monitoring of the new Iceland volcano eruption.
Satellite monitoring of the new Iceland volcano eruption.
More on the new Kepler results: Lots of multiple planet systems
More on the new Kepler results: Lots of multiple planet systems.
More on the new Kepler results: Lots of multiple planet systems.
Peter, Paul, and Mary — I have a song to sing o
An evening pause: Peter, Paul, & Mary singing Arthur Sullivan’s “I have a song to sing o” in Australia.
Pawlenty calls for phasing out ethanol subsidies — in Iowa
Republican Presidential candidate Tim Pawlenty today called for phasing out ethanol subsidies — in Iowa.
We need more candidates like this, willing to say these kinds of things face-to-face with the very people who benefit from the funding.
Republican Presidential candidate Tim Pawlenty today called for phasing out ethanol subsidies — in Iowa.
We need more candidates like this, willing to say these kinds of things face-to-face with the very people who benefit from the funding.
New results from Kepler
New results from Kepler.
New results from Kepler.
Want to go to an asteroid?
A paper published today on the Los Alamos astro-ph preprint website has taken a close look at identifying the best nearby asteroids ideal for mounting a manned mission. The conclusion: our survey of such asteroids is very incomplete (only 65 known), and due to their location in Earthlike orbits they are very difficult to study.
Ultra-low delta-v NEOs are not readily found. Their closely Earth-like orbits mean that most of the time they are in the daytime sky, as seen from the Earth, and so are effectively undetectable. As they approach within <1AU of the Earth they start to lie near quadrature, and so come into the dawn or dusk sky on Earth. The strong scattered sunlight background makes optical surveys toward the dawn or dusk much less sensitive and, in practice, surveys do not look in these directions, preferring to observe where the sky is dark, within 45 degrees, and at most 60 degrees, of the anti-Sun, opposition, direction. As a consequence the lowest delta-v NEOs are undercounted by current surveys, and the factor by which they are undercounted is not yet known.
The paper proposes building a dedicated unmanned infrared mission and placing it in a Venus-like orbit where it would be better placed to see these difficult but important objects.
No decline in polar bear population
Though the data is sketchy in places, it appears there has been no decline in the polar bear population for the past four years.
Though the data is sketchy in places, it appears there has been no decline in the polar bear population for the past four years.