SpaceShipTwo completes its third glide flight
Hooray for private space! SpaceShipTwo successfully completed its third glide flight yesterday.
Shuttle launch no earlier than December 3
NASA managers have once again delayed the launch of Discovery, now set for no earlier than December 3.
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
Johnny Carson Lie Detector Politician
An evening pause:
Brian Marsden dies
Astronomer and comet/asteroid tracker Brian Marsden has died. Marsden was the kind of gentleman that makes writing astronomy articles so much fun. Even when I was a newby science writer back in the early 90s he was always willing to answer any of my questions, and give me blunt and honest answers to boot. R.I.P.
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.
The climategate email anniversary
Some cogent thoughts from James Delingpole about climate politics on the one year anniversary of the release of the climategate emails and the refusal of the elite ruling class to address the issue. Key quote:
And why is this so? In part, at least, it is because of the abject, ongoing failure of our Mainstream Media to report environmental issues with the robust scepticism that ought to be the natural tack of responsible journalists. Too many environmental reporters are still regurgitating press releases handed to them by activist organisations like the WWF, Greenpeace and Friends Of The Earth. In the MSM, as in government, it’s like Climategate never happened.
A snowstorm in space
Almost literally, the probe Deep Impact flew through a snowstorm when it flew past Comet Hartley 2 on November 4. Below is one of the best pictures from the moment. More images can be found here. Key quote:
[The images] revealed a cometary snow storm created by carbon dioxide jets spewing out tons of golf-ball to basketball-sized fluffy ice particles from the peanut-shaped comet’s rocky ends. At the same time, a different process was causing water vapor to escape from the comet’s smooth mid-section. This information sheds new light on the nature of comets and even planets.
Note that all the close-up images taken by Deep Impact are going to be slightly out of focus, as the camera was launched with a defect.
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
Cops bust seven men playing chess in upper Manhattan park
More madness: Police arrested seven men, for playing chess in an upper Manhattan park.
California prosecutors say they’ll charge TSA agents if pat-downs are inappropriate
California prosecutors say they’ll charge TSA agents if pat-downs are inappropriate.
How to properly fight terrorism
How to properly fight terrorism at airports.
Sharpton wants FCC to threaten stations that carry Limbaugh
Freedom of speech alert! Al Sharpton wants the FCC to threaten stations with a loss of their license if they carry Rush Limbaugh.
Orlando airport dumps TSA
Orlando airport dumps the TSA.
Link fixed! Sorry.
TSA allowed to unionize despite law forbidding such action
The law, a living document! The Federal Labor Relations Authority has given TSA staffers permission to unionize, despite the fact that the law creating the TSA expressly forbids such action. More here.
Reviewing the flight rationale for Discovery’s launch
NASA management is reviewing the “flight rationale” for Discovery’s next mission, considering the cracks in the external tank. Key quote:
Troubleshooters are assessing the structural integrity of the tank and its foam insulation to develop the necessary flight rationale, or justification, for proceeding with another launch as early as Nov. 30.
The dying stars that look like jellyfish
The dying stars that look like jellyfish.
Scientists succeed in trapping atoms of anti-matter for the first time
For the first time scientists succeed in trapping atoms of anti-matter. Key quote:
The team know the trap worked because they made about 10 million antihydrogen atoms which promptly obliterated themselves. Then they turned off their new trap and saw 38 more obliterations — meaning those 38 antihydrogens stuck in the trap.
Hailstorm in Oklahoma, May 16, 2010
An evening pause:
Sea Life Flourishes in the Gulf
Despite the howls of panic over the Gulf of Mexico oil spill this past summer, sea life is flourishing in the gulf. Key quote:
A comprehensive new study says that in some of the most heavily fished areas of the Gulf of Mexico, various forms of sea life, from shrimp to sharks, have seen their populations triple since before the spill. Some species, including shrimp and croaker, did even better. [emphasis mine]
European Budget Snafu Could Delay Progress on Fusion Reactor
Government marches on! Budget disagreements in the EU could delay construction of an experimental fusion reactor.
Senate hearing on NASA’s future postponed
The space war delayed: The Senate has postponed its hearing on NASA’s future until December 1.
Man shoots TV over Bristol Palin appearance
Feel the hate: A man shot his television in outrage over Bristol Palin’s success on Dancing with the Stars, then held off the police for fifteen hours.