Messenger in orbit around Mercury
Above, an annotated version of the first orbital image, showing areas of the south pole never before seen.
From the press conference about the first Messenger images from Mercury orbit:
» Read more
Above, an annotated version of the first orbital image, showing areas of the south pole never before seen.
From the press conference about the first Messenger images from Mercury orbit:
» Read more
On Christmas Eve 1968 three Americans became the first humans to visit another world. What they did to celebrate was unexpected and profound, and will be remembered throughout all human history. Genesis: the Story of Apollo 8, Robert Zimmerman's classic history of humanity's first journey to another world, tells that story, and it is now available as both an ebook and an audiobook, both with a foreword by Valerie Anders and a new introduction by Robert Zimmerman.
The print edition can be purchased at Amazon or any other book seller. If you want an autographed copy the price is $60 for the hardback and $45 for the paperback, plus $8 shipping for each. Go here for purchasing details. The ebook is available everywhere for $5.99 (before discount) at amazon, or direct from my ebook publisher, ebookit you don't support the big tech companies and the author gets a bigger cut much sooner.
"Not simply about one mission, [Genesis] is also the history of America's quest for the moon... Zimmerman has done a masterful job of tying disparate events together into a solid account of one of America's greatest human triumphs."--San Antonio Express-News
What does this tell us about the intellectual bankruptcy and political leanings of these academics: The University of La Plata in Argentina is giving Hugo Chavez a journalism award.
Maybe it’s because the leftwing Chavez likes to shut down opposition news organizations.
Geert Wilders: Time to unmask Muhammad.
Anyone who voices criticism of Islam and Muhammad is in grave personal danger – as I have experienced. And whoever attempts to escape from the influence of Islam and Muhammad risks death. We cannot continue to accept this state of affairs. A public debate about the true nature and character of Muhammad can provide insight and support to Muslims all over the world who wish to leave Islam.
Now available in hardback and paperback as well as ebook!
From the press release: In this ground-breaking new history of early America, historian Robert Zimmerman not only exposes the lie behind The New York Times 1619 Project that falsely claims slavery is central to the history of the United States, he also provides profound lessons about the nature of human societies, lessons important for Americans today as well as for all future settlers on Mars and elsewhere in space.
“Zimmerman’s ground-breaking history provides every future generation the basic framework for establishing new societies on other worlds. We would be wise to heed what he says.” —Robert Zubrin, founder of the Mars Society.
All editions are available at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and all book vendors, with the ebook priced at $5.99 before discount. All editions can also be purchased direct from the ebook publisher, ebookit, in which case you don't support the big tech companies and the author gets a bigger cut much sooner.
Autographed printed copies are also available at discount directly from the author (hardback $29.95; paperback $14.95; Shipping cost for either: $6.00). Just send an email to zimmerman @ nasw dot org.
Are they blinking finally? Harry Reid (D-Nevada) suggested yesterday that the Democrats might be willing to compromise in budget talks.
Leaving Earth: Space Stations, Rival Superpowers, and the Quest for Interplanetary Travel, can be purchased as an ebook everywhere for only $3.99 (before discount) at amazon, Barnes & Noble, all ebook vendors, or direct from my ebook publisher, ebookit.
If you buy it from ebookit you don't support the big oppressive tech companies and I get a bigger cut much sooner.
"Leaving Earth is one of the best and certainly the most comprehensive summary of our drive into space that I have ever read. It will be invaluable to future scholars because it will tell them how the next chapter of human history opened." -- Arthur C. Clarke
When is an asteroid not an asteroid?
The layered structure of Vesta (core, mantle and crust) is the key trait that makes Vesta more like planets such as Earth, Venus and Mars than the other asteroids, McCord said. Like the planets, Vesta had sufficient radioactive material inside when it coalesced, releasing heat that melted rock and enabled lighter layers to float to the outside. Scientists call this process differentiation.
This question immediately demonstrates once again the terrible mess the International Astronautical Union made when it decided several years ago to define what makes a planet, and came up with a definition that simply doesn’t work. For if Vesta should be considered a planet, why not Pluto?
Civility for thee but not for me: Bill Maher considers it perfectly acceptable for him to use four-letter words to attack conservative women like Sarah Palin and Michele Bachmann.
Repeal the goddamn thing already! It appears that Louisiana will be the ninth state to seek a waiver from Obamacare.
Congressmen rack up unpaid parking tickets.
As Glenn Reynolds would say, laws are for the “little people.”
The first test flight of a German electric-powered airplane.
The single-seat Elektra One is claimed to have a three-hour endurance using rechargeable batteries and a range of more than 216 nm. The aircraft has a payload of 220 pounds and is claimed to cruise at 86 knots.
More leftwing civility: A death threat video attacking a black conservative who opposes illegal immigration.
The pigs rule! Congress to NASA: follow the authorization act.
In other words, Congress wants NASA to spend money (Pork!) on a rocket it can’t complete for the cash provided.
More craziness: McGill University has decided to protect the student who issued jihadist death threats against conservatives and Jews.
Some examples of the student’s threats: “I want to shoot everyone in this room,” followed by “I should have brought an M16.”
Here is McGill’s interpretation: “We have come to the conclusion that the messages don’t constitute a threat to the community.”
The Defense and Transportation departments have slammed the FCC over its approval of a new broadband service that they think will interfere with GPS.
More leftwing civility: Wisconsin Republican legislators continue to face threats.
“Protesters have congregated at the homes of Republican legislators, surrounded their cars and jeered at them as they walk to work, Mr. Jefferson said,” the Journal reported.
It appears the operator of a dam in Australia ‘invented’ record rainfall data in order to justify the gigantic release of water that caused the flooding there in January.
An evening pause: A song based on the 15th century poem by St. John of the Cross (San Juan de la Cruz).
Upon a darkened night
the flame of love was burning in my breast
And by a lantern bright
I fled my house while all in quiet rest
Full lyrics here.
A tiny church in England has discovered that its church bible is actually an original 1611 King James bible, “one of perhaps 200 surviving 400-year-old original editions.”
The brightest supernovae yet found.
Supernova 2008am is 3.7 billion light-years away. At its peak luminosity, it was over 100 billion times brighter than the Sun. It emitted enough energy in one second to satisfy the power needs of the United States for one million times longer than the universe has existed.