Please consider supporting my work here at Behind the Black., You can support me either by giving a one-time contribution or a regular subscription. There are four ways of doing so:
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Date set for zero gravity beer drinking test
New Kepler results!
Scientists released additional Kepler results [pdf] today, this time describing what they are learning about the stars being observed rather than any planets that might be orbiting them. In studying each star’s minute variations of light, the astronomers can track how the star itself is oscillating like a bell ringing. From this they can do a kind of stellar seismology, finding out a great deal about what is going on inside the star. The data has thus:
- produced the most precise measurements of the size and age of another star beside the Sun. KIC 11026764 has a radius 2.05 times the size of the Sun, and is now believed to be 5.94 billion years old, slightly older than the Sun’s 4.57 billion years. Though larger than the Sun, this star is a G-type star like the Sun. So far, Kepler has observed about 1500 solar-type stars. The astronomers are still analyzing this data, with results to follow.
- measured the oscillations of a thousand red giant stars, ranging from slightly larger to dozens of times larger than the Sun. The larger the star, the faster the oscillation and the larger the amplitude, which in turn has confirmed the theories about how the nuclear processes in the core of stars evolve over time, shifting from burning hydrogen to helium. Since these red giants are what our Sun will be like when it reaches old age, we are thus learning something about the Sun’s future.
- and provided the most precise measurements ever of RR Lyrae stars, a class of unusual variable stars that have puzzled astronomers for more than a century. From this data the astronomers hope to find out exactly why these stars fluctuate as they do.
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, any other book seller, or direct from my ebook publisher, ebookit. 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.
The audiobook is also available at all these vendors, and is also free with a 30-day trial membership to Audible.
"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
Hubble Data Used to Look 10,000 Years into the Future
Spaceport dedication in New Mexico
Mike Shinabery, a fellow science writer who also writes for the New Mexico Museum of Space History, attended the dedication ceremony this past weekend of the new spaceport located about 45 miles north of Las Cruces, New Mexico. He took some pictures and kindly forwarded them to me. Below is a shot of Virgin Galactic’s WhiteKnightTwo, carrying SpaceShipTwo, as it approached for landing.
More photos below the fold. » Read more
Mike Shinabery, a fellow science writer who also writes for the New Mexico Museum of Space History, attended the dedication ceremony this past weekend of the new spaceport located about 45 miles north of Las Cruces, New Mexico. He took some pictures and kindly forwarded them to me. Below is a shot of Virgin Galactic’s WhiteKnightTwo, carrying SpaceShipTwo, as it approached for landing.
More photos below the fold. » Read more
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.
Conscious Choice: The origins of slavery in America and why it matters today and for our future in outer space, is a riveting page-turning story that documents how slavery slowly became pervasive in the southern British colonies of North America, colonies founded by a people and culture that not only did not allow slavery but in every way were hostile to the practice.
Conscious Choice does more however. In telling the tragic history of the Virginia colony and the rise of slavery there, Zimmerman lays out the proper path for creating healthy societies in places like the Moon and Mars.
“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.
Tsunami and volcano hit Indonesia
Bad news from Indonesia: A tsunami killed 108 at the same time a volcano eruption has forced thousands to flee.
Bad news from Indonesia: A tsunami killed 108 at the same time a volcano eruption has forced thousands to flee.
Obama takes the money and runs
These politicians are such jerks! A family in Rhode Island put together a fancy “Dinner with Obama” to raise money for Democrats. Obama arrives, collects the money, and then skips out before dinner. And why couldn’t Obama stay? This is what he said, just before everyone else sat down to eat,
“I’ve got to go home to tuck in the girls and walk the dog and scoop the poop,”
These politicians are such jerks! A family in Rhode Island put together a fancy “Dinner with Obama” to raise money for Democrats. Obama arrives, collects the money, and then skips out before dinner. And why couldn’t Obama stay? This is what he said, just before everyone else sat down to eat,
“I’ve got to go home to tuck in the girls and walk the dog and scoop the poop,”
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.
Winner of the 2003 Eugene M. Emme Award of the American Astronautical Society.
"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
Bloomberg supports term limits for everyone else but himself
This illustrates why much of today’s political class, from both parties, needs to go: New York mayor Michael Bloomberg supports term limits for everyone . . . but himself.
This illustrates why much of today’s political class, from both parties, needs to go: New York mayor Michael Bloomberg supports term limits for everyone . . . but himself.
The 123,000 MPH Plasma Engine That Could Finally Take Astronauts To Mars
ISS to dodge space junk
Russian mission controllers have shifted the orbit of ISS about a half mile in order to avoid an unidentified piece of space junk.
Russian mission controllers have shifted the orbit of ISS about a half mile in order to avoid an unidentified piece of space junk.
Why this election is important
Mark Steyn explains why next week’s midterm election and what the next Congress does has very special significance. Key quote:
In a two-party system, you have to work with what’s available. In America, one party is openly committed to driving the nation off the cliff, and the other party is full of guys content to go along for the ride as long as we shift down to third gear. That’s no longer enough of a choice. If your candidate isn’t committed to fewer government agencies with fewer employees on lower rates of pay, he’s part of the problem. This is the last chance for the GOP to restore its credentials. If it blows it, all bets are off for 2012.
Mark Steyn explains why next week’s midterm election and what the next Congress does has very special significance. Key quote:
In a two-party system, you have to work with what’s available. In America, one party is openly committed to driving the nation off the cliff, and the other party is full of guys content to go along for the ride as long as we shift down to third gear. That’s no longer enough of a choice. If your candidate isn’t committed to fewer government agencies with fewer employees on lower rates of pay, he’s part of the problem. This is the last chance for the GOP to restore its credentials. If it blows it, all bets are off for 2012.
Another European on trial for reporting the facts about Islam
Freedom of speech alert! Geert Wilders is not the only European on trial simply for reporting factual information about Islam and the Koran. In Vienna, Austria, feminist and anti-jihad activist Elisabeth Sabaditsch-Wolff faces prison simply because she conducted “public seminars in which she described Islamic doctrine, quoted from the Koran, and explained to her listeners what she considers the dangers of Islam.” Her trial date is now set for November 23. More information can also be found at Jihad Watch.
The website Gates of Vienna has started a campaign to support Sabaditsch-Wolff, and is asking websites and bloggers worldwide to support her. I am glad to lend my voice to her cause. Any government that wants to put a citizen in jail, merely for expressing an opinion or stating facts, should be condemned as loudly as possble. If you go to the campaign site above, you can read about the history of the case in detail as well as find ways you can lend your own support. Also, Elisabeth Sabaditsch-Wolff’s legal defense fund can be found at http://english.savefreespeech.org/ .
Space tourism ticket prices could drop
Two companies who are offering suborbital tourism space flights have indicated that the price per ticket could drop by 2011.
Two companies who are offering suborbital tourism space flights have indicated that the price per ticket could drop by 2011.
NASA’s commercial crew program moves forward
The commercial half of NASA’s future manned program is moving foward. The agency today began soliciting bids for “launchers and spacecraft that would transport astronauts to and from low Earth orbit destinations on a commercial basis.” Contract awards are expected by March 2011.
The commercial half of NASA’s future manned program is moving foward. The agency today began soliciting bids for “launchers and spacecraft that would transport astronauts to and from low Earth orbit destinations on a commercial basis.” Contract awards are expected by March 2011.
Nowhere Man
An evening pause: From Yellow Submarine (1968). Some trivia: the dialogue was spoken by actors, not the Beatles.
Google Lunar X Prize
The private race to the Moon, led by the Google Lunar X Prize. Key quote:
The Google Lunar X PRIZE offers a total of $30 million in prize money to the first privately funded teams to land robots on the Moon that explore the lunar surface by moving at least 500 meters and by sending back two packages of high definition video and photos we call Mooncasts. Unlike our first competition, the $10 million Ansari X PRIZE, the Google Lunar X PRIZE isn’t a ‘winner take all’ proposition: instead, we have a $20 million Grand Prize, a Second Place Prize that will award $5 million to the second team to meet all of the requirements, a series of technical bonus missions that can allow teams to earn as much as an additional $4 million, and a $1 million award that will go to teams that make the greatest contribution to stimulating diversity in space exploration and, more generally, in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.
The competition operates on a “payment on delivery” model: the prize money is only given to teams after they complete a successful mission, meaning that each team needs to raise all the capital needed to design, develop and conduct their missions on their own. We’re now three years into a fairly long effort: the prize is available until all of the prize purses are claimed or until the end of the year 2015. Last week, we accepted our 24th team into the competition.
The private race to the Moon, led by the Google Lunar X Prize. Key quote:
The Google Lunar X PRIZE offers a total of $30 million in prize money to the first privately funded teams to land robots on the Moon that explore the lunar surface by moving at least 500 meters and by sending back two packages of high definition video and photos we call Mooncasts. Unlike our first competition, the $10 million Ansari X PRIZE, the Google Lunar X PRIZE isn’t a ‘winner take all’ proposition: instead, we have a $20 million Grand Prize, a Second Place Prize that will award $5 million to the second team to meet all of the requirements, a series of technical bonus missions that can allow teams to earn as much as an additional $4 million, and a $1 million award that will go to teams that make the greatest contribution to stimulating diversity in space exploration and, more generally, in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.
The competition operates on a “payment on delivery” model: the prize money is only given to teams after they complete a successful mission, meaning that each team needs to raise all the capital needed to design, develop and conduct their missions on their own. We’re now three years into a fairly long effort: the prize is available until all of the prize purses are claimed or until the end of the year 2015. Last week, we accepted our 24th team into the competition.
Last flight for Discovery set for Monday
The leak on the space shuttle Discovery appears fixed, and NASA managers have confirmed the launch date as Monday, November 1, 4:40 pm (Eastern). This will be Discovery’s last flight.
The leak on the space shuttle Discovery appears fixed, and NASA managers have confirmed the launch date as Monday, November 1, 4:40 pm (Eastern). This will be Discovery’s last flight.
The calla lillies are in bloom again
An evening pause: This scene, from Stage Door (1937), is considered by many to be Katherine Hepburn’s greatest film moment: “The calla lillies are in bloom again.” Though powerful on its own, in the full context of the movie the scene is even more heart-breaking, and a true tour de force for Hepburn.
The once and future Moon
Paul Spudis provides a very detailed analysis of the recently released LCROSS lunar results. Key quote:
The Near-IR spectrometers on the LCROSS shepherding satellite detected abundant water (H2O) but also hydrogen sulfide (H2S), ammonia (NH3), methanol (CH3OH), methane (CH4), ethylene (C2H4) and sulfur dioxide (SO2). The uv-vis spectrometer found carbon dioxide (CO2), sodium, silver, and cyanide (CN). Aboard the distant LRO spacecraft, the ultraviolet LAMP imager detected hydrogen (H2), nitrogen, carbon monoxide (CO), sodium, mercury, zinc, gold (!), and calcium. But water, present in quantities between 5 and 10 weight percent, is the most abundant volatile substance present.
Paul Spudis provides a very detailed analysis of the recently released LCROSS lunar results. Key quote:
The Near-IR spectrometers on the LCROSS shepherding satellite detected abundant water (H2O) but also hydrogen sulfide (H2S), ammonia (NH3), methanol (CH3OH), methane (CH4), ethylene (C2H4) and sulfur dioxide (SO2). The uv-vis spectrometer found carbon dioxide (CO2), sodium, silver, and cyanide (CN). Aboard the distant LRO spacecraft, the ultraviolet LAMP imager detected hydrogen (H2), nitrogen, carbon monoxide (CO), sodium, mercury, zinc, gold (!), and calcium. But water, present in quantities between 5 and 10 weight percent, is the most abundant volatile substance present.
Wikipedia bans global warming propagandist
Wikipedia bans global warming propagandist. Key quote:
Through his position, Connolley for years kept dissenting views on global warming out of Wikipedia, allowing only those that promoted the view that global warming represented a threat to mankind. As a result, Wikipedia became a leading source of global warming propaganda, with Connolley its chief propagandist. His career as a global warming propagandist has now been stopped, following a unanimous verdict that came down today through an arbitration proceeding conducted by Wikipedia.
Wikipedia bans global warming propagandist. Key quote:
Through his position, Connolley for years kept dissenting views on global warming out of Wikipedia, allowing only those that promoted the view that global warming represented a threat to mankind. As a result, Wikipedia became a leading source of global warming propaganda, with Connolley its chief propagandist. His career as a global warming propagandist has now been stopped, following a unanimous verdict that came down today through an arbitration proceeding conducted by Wikipedia.
SpaceX now targeting Nov. 18 for first COTS demo flight
SpaceX is now targeting November 18 for the second test flight of its Falcon 9 rocket, which will also be the first test flight of its Dragon capsule.
SpaceX is now targeting November 18 for the second test flight of its Falcon 9 rocket, which will also be the first test flight of its Dragon capsule.
Evidence of active volcanoes on Venus
Virgin Galactic plans to compete in the upcoming race to develop orbital space vehicles
Richard Branson, President of Virgin Galactic, says that his company plans to compete in the upcoming race to develop orbital space vehicles.
Richard Branson, President of Virgin Galactic, says that his company plans to compete in the upcoming race to develop orbital space vehicles.
Bugs Bunny – Buccaneer Bunny (1948)
We’re a couple of swells…
Union Fires Stage Hand for Wearing Bush Hat and Shirt
New technology might allow airline passengers to keep their shoes on
Mark Steyn lecture squelched by Islamists and wimpy bureaucrats
Obeying the orders of local Islamic groups, a London, Ontario, convention center has refused to allow a lecture by Mark Stein. Key quote:
“The reason offered by the London Convention Centre [in a Tuesday morning phone call] was that they had received pressure from local Islamic groups, and they didn’t want to alienate their Muslim clients. It’s interesting to note that the LCC is owned by the City of London, and is therefore a government operation,” wrote Strictly Right’s Andrew Lawton at the website.
Obeying the orders of local Islamic groups, a London, Ontario, convention center has refused to allow a lecture by Mark Stein. Key quote:
“The reason offered by the London Convention Centre [in a Tuesday morning phone call] was that they had received pressure from local Islamic groups, and they didn’t want to alienate their Muslim clients. It’s interesting to note that the LCC is owned by the City of London, and is therefore a government operation,” wrote Strictly Right’s Andrew Lawton at the website.
Judges in Geert Wilders’ Free Speech Case Removed from Trial
Things are not going well for those Dutch officials who want to squelch free speech: The judges in Geert Wilders’ free speech case have been removed, and the trial has to start from scratch.
Things are not going well for those Dutch officials who want to squelch free speech: The judges in Geert Wilders’ free speech case have been removed, and the trial has to start from scratch.
The Juan Williams firing, in his own words
The Juan Williams firing, in his own words. Key quote:
This is an outrageous violation of journalistic standards and ethics by management that has no use for a diversity of opinion, ideas or a diversity of staff (I was the only black male on the air). This is evidence of one-party rule and one sided thinking at NPR that leads to enforced ideology, speech and writing. It leads to people, especially journalists, being sent to the gulag for raising the wrong questions and displaying independence of thought.
Daniel Schorr, my fellow NPR commentator who died earlier this year, used to talk about the initial shock of finding himself on President Nixon’s enemies list. I can only imagine Dan’s revulsion to realize that today NPR treats a journalist who has worked for them for ten years with less regard, less respect for the value of independence of thought and embrace of real debate across political lines, than Nixon ever displayed.
As I said yesterday, defund them.
The Juan Williams firing, in his own words. Key quote:
This is an outrageous violation of journalistic standards and ethics by management that has no use for a diversity of opinion, ideas or a diversity of staff (I was the only black male on the air). This is evidence of one-party rule and one sided thinking at NPR that leads to enforced ideology, speech and writing. It leads to people, especially journalists, being sent to the gulag for raising the wrong questions and displaying independence of thought.
Daniel Schorr, my fellow NPR commentator who died earlier this year, used to talk about the initial shock of finding himself on President Nixon’s enemies list. I can only imagine Dan’s revulsion to realize that today NPR treats a journalist who has worked for them for ten years with less regard, less respect for the value of independence of thought and embrace of real debate across political lines, than Nixon ever displayed.
As I said yesterday, defund them.
Atmospheric scientists say space tourism will cause global warming
Let’s all sit in a dark room and contemplate our navel! Atmospheric scientists claim that space tourism will cause . . . global warming!
Let’s all sit in a dark room and contemplate our navel! Atmospheric scientists claim that space tourism will cause . . . global warming!