NASA puts spacecraft above rockets in its commercial funding
In picking the winners for its commercial manned space subsidizes, NASA gave more priority to the spacecraft — either capsules or spaceplane — above the rockets needed to launch it.
Observations of Comet Hale-Bopp at 30 AU
In a paper published tonight on the Los Alamos astro-ph preprint website, astronomers described new observations of Comet Hale-Bopp at a distance of 30 astronomical units, or 2.8 billion miles, from the sun. Their conclusions:
- These observations were the most distant detection of any known comet.
- The comet’s starlike appearance and its drop in brightness since the last observations suggest that the comet has finally ceased, or is about to cease, all activity, and that they are now looking directly at the comet’s nucleus instead of the coma cloud surrounding it.
- Nonetheless, the comet is brighter than expected, which also suggests that a thin layer of new ice covers its surface and thus increases its albedo.
To quote the paper, “Observing Hale-Bopp in a completely frozen state would be extremely important because a thick coma was constantly present during the entire appariation [Ed. the fly-by of the Sun]. The coma obscured the nucleus which was not observed directly. Lack photometric data of the bared nucleus, its size — one of the most important input parameter in activity models — remains uncertain.”
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. If you buy it from 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
George Carlin Baseball vs Football
An evening pause:
Muslim policemen shouting “Allahu akbar” open fire on Jews praying at Joseph’s Tomb
Muslim policemen shouting “Allahu akbar” open fire on Jews praying at Joseph’s Tomb, killing 2 and injuring five.
And yet, it is Terry Jones who is criticized and imprisoned for wanting to stand in front of a mosque in the U.S. with a protest sign.
The world, and justice, is upside down.
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.
U.S. border guards seize Easter eggs
More government foolishness: U.S. border guards seize chocolate Easter eggs.
Will fewer humans in space lead to more robot explorers?
Eric Berger at the Houston Chronicle asks: Will fewer humans in space lead to more robot explorers?
In a word, no. In the past fifty years, every time the budget of the manned space program has been cut, the unmanned program shrank as well. And every time the budget of manned space grew, so did the budget for unmanned missions.
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
“We’re going all the way to Mars, I think… best case 10 years, worst case 15 to 20 years.”
I believe him when he says he’ll launch his first manned mission in three years. However, I think he seriously underestimates the challenges of a mission to Mars, based on our present engineering abilities to build interplanetary spaceships.
NJ Transit worker fired for burning Koran gets his job back, plus $25,000 award
A victory for free speech: The NJ Transit worker who was fired for burning a Koran has gotten his job back, plus back pay and $25,000.
Pastor Terry Jones imprisoned to prevent Detroit Koran protest
Free speech alert: Pastor Terry Jones imprisoned by judge in Deerborn, Michigan to prevent him from protesting against Islam there.
As much as I think Jones is a publicity-seeking fool, his right to speak is sacrosanct. I hope he sues the judge and the city of Deerborn for everything he can get.
JK Wedding Entrance Dance
An evening pause: This video of the JK wedding entrance dance went viral several years ago, but man, it is sure worth watching again and again. Ordinary people doing extraordinary things.
Virgin Galactic’s SpaceShipTwo Makes its Longest Test Flight Yet
Virgin Galactic’s SpaceShipTwo makes its longest test flight yet.
Earth Day predictions from 1970
The predictions of disaster from the first Earth Day, 1970. I especially like this one:
“Demographers agree almost unanimously on the following grim timetable: by 1975 widespread famines will begin in India; these will spread by 1990 to include all of India, Pakistan, China and the Near East, Africa. By the year 2000, or conceivably sooner, South and Central America will exist under famine conditions. . . . By the year 2000, thirty years from now, the entire world, with the exception of Western Europe, North America, and Australia, will be in famine.” Peter Gunter, professor, North Texas State University [emphasis mine]
A consensus was reached and the science was settled!
Remember this the next time some blowhard global-warming pundit tries to claim “the science is settled” today.
Loretta Lynn – Coal Miner’s Daughter
An evening pause:
Russians say “Nyet” to Dragon docking on its next flight
The competition plays hardball: The Russians say “Nyet” to letting SpaceX’s Dragon capsule dock with ISS on its next flight.
Harvard Researcher Banned From Teaching Next Year
A Harvard researcher, under investigation for research misconduct, has been banned from teaching next year.
SDO’S best Images from its first year
The best images from Solar Dynamics Observatory’s first year in space.
Pachelbel’s Canon in D played at 3 am
An evening pause What good musicians do in their spare time, play Pachelbel’s Canon in D at 3 am in the morning, without rehearsal. Or as they themselves describe it, “The Most Juicy Canon On YouTube!!!”
The violin players (l to r): Marie Samuelsen, Andrey Rozendent, and Alexander Gilman.
Scientists find previously unknown deposits of CO2 on Mars
Scientists find a gigantic and previously unknown deposit of CO2 at Mars’ south pole.
“We already knew there is a small perennial cap of carbon-dioxide ice on top of the water ice there, but this buried deposit has about 30 times more dry ice than previously estimated,” said Roger Phillips of Southwest Research Institute in Boulder, Colo. Phillips is deputy team leader for the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter’s Shallow Radar instrument and lead author of the report. . . . “When you include this buried deposit, Martian carbon dioxide right now is roughly half frozen and half in the atmosphere, but at other times it can be nearly all frozen or nearly all in the atmosphere,” Phillips said.
What this discovery means is that, depending on Mars’ orbital circumstances, its atmosphere can sometimes be dense enough for liquid water to flow on its surface.
Des Moines paper publishes over 5,000 names of gun permit holders
The Des Moines CityView newspaper has published the names of over 5,000 legal gun permit holders.
A newspaper which goes after law-abiding citizens like this should simply go out of business.
More Democrats Join Threat to Hold Up Debt Ceiling Vote Without Spending Cuts
This is hopeful news: More Democrats are threatening to hold up the debt ceiling vote unless there are more spending cuts.