upcoming Ares I solid rocket test
The Ares I solid rocket motor is now fully assembled on its test stand in Utah, ready for the motor’s second test firing, planned for September.
Category: Points of Information
Very brief descriptions, with appropriate links, of current or recent news items.
Cernan calls for Bolden resignation
Eugene Cernan, the last man to walk on the Moon, calls for Bolden’s resignation.
Orion capsule passes first review
The fullsized Orion capsule has passed its first safety review. This is the design that the Obama adminstration wishes to cancel.
Lockheed buyouts
Lockheed Martin, under pressure from the Pentagon, is trimming is management ranks.
NASA layoffs
United Space Alliance, the contractor that provides support during every shuttle launch, announced significant layoffs today in anticipation of the end of the shuttle program.
First photos from inside Hayabusa capsule
Update and bumped: More details have been released about what was inside the Hayabusa capsule. In total, two 0.01 millimeter particles have been found in the inner capsule, and about 10 large particles in the outer capsule.
The first photo from inside the Hayabusa capsule has been released, showing the presence of a tiny 0.01 millimeter particle. It is still unknown whether this is an asteroid particle or something captured on the return to Earth.
Another climategate whitewash?
Another climategate whitewash? The Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency has reviewed the 2007 UN IPCC report and decided that, though the report did have some really embarrassing errors (including some new ones uncovered by the review), the IPCC’s conclusion — that global warming is happening and that it is caused by humans — must still be correct.
Government and the impending shortage of helium
The law of unintended consequences strikes again! We are going to run out of our supply of helium, and it is all because the government first tried to manage and control the resource in the early 20th century, and then decided in the 1990s to extricate itself from that management. For those of us following the continuing space war over NASA’s future, this story is most instructive in illustrating how difficult it is to get the government out of our lives, once we have let it in.
Big Peace
The launching post of Andrew Breibart’s Big Peace website expresses best why the courage to defend freedom and liberty at all costs is the best guarantor of peace.
Minute particles found in Hayabusa capsule
Japanese scientists have detected minute particles in the Hayabusa capsule! Whether these particles are from the asteroid or not remains unknown.
the press finally notices the absurdities of Obama’s new space policy
The press finally notices the absurdities of Obama’s new space policy, something I have been talking about for months, and noted again earlier this week.
Progress successfully docks, July 4, 2010
After its docking failure Friday, the Russian unmanned Progress freighter successfully docked with ISS today.