The Southwest Research Institute has purchased two tickets from Virgin Galactic for its scientists to fly on SpaceShipTwo.
Take a gander at this spectacular image of the shuttle approaching ISS, taken by an amateur astronomer from the ground!
The beer has landed: The first test of space beer in weightlessness has been completed. Key quote:
Astronauts4Hire Flight Member Todd Romberger was selected to perform the flight research. Todd sampled the beer during 12 microgravity parabolas, each reproducing the weightless conditions of space for 30 seconds at a time, and recorded qualitative data on beverage taste and drinkability as well as biometric data to gain a first look at alcohol effects the body.
This is why I call it pork and a waste of money: NASA’s chief technologist admits it will be a decade before Orion and the heavy-lift rocket mandated by Congress flies.
More problems for the James Webb Space Telescope: The detector arrays for several instruments are deteriorating, even as they sit on the shelf. And remember, the 2014 launch date is probably going to be delayed until 2016. Key quote:
“As you get further and further out with [the launch date], it really raises questions about how far down the [integration and test] process you go for the instruments … and how long you have to store all that before you actually launch,” [Webb program director Rick Howard] told the NASA Advisory Council’s astrophysics subcommittee during a Feb. 16 public meeting here. “And that just makes everybody even more nervous about this problem than anything else.”
So what the shuttle is being retired! Space tourism is poised to blast off in the next two years.
More launch news: The launch of the climate satellite Glory was postponed again today. No new launch date is set.
More station news: The shuttle Discovery has lifted off on its last mission.
Europe’s Kepler cargo vehicle has docked with ISS.
Virtual meets reality: Watch Discovery’s launch today from your virtual yacht on your Playstation 3 game machine.
The automatic docking of the European Kepler freighter to the space station is now set for 10:47 pm (Eastern) tonight.
What could go wrong? Scientists have developed technology allowing someone to steer a car by thought alone. Key quote:
“In our test runs, a driver equipped with EEG sensors was able to control the car with no problem — there was only a slight delay between the envisaged commands and the response of the car,” said Prof. Raúl Rojas, who heads the AutoNOMOS project at Freie Universität Berlin.
Is there a crack in the monolith? A play about the persecution of a scientist who expresses skepticism about global warming is running in London, with favorable reviews!
The new colonial movement: China’s first probe to Mars is now set for a November launch.
The second X-37B has arrived in Florida in preparation for a March 4th launch.
Listen to the squealing: Scientists criticize the House vote to cut off funds to the IPCC. Key quote:
Without the federal support, [Stanford ecologist Chris Field] said, “We’d have no ability to organize meetings, we’d have no ability to coordinate chapters.”
In other words, no more jaunts to Cancun in the midst of winter. What a shame!
Considering the insincere effort of the IPCC and its scientists to correct its numerous errors, as well as their admitted political agenda, it seems completely appropriate to stop funding it with U.S. tax dollars. If these environmentalists want to issue a report, they should pay for it themselves.
The final launch for the space shuttle Discovery has now been set for Thursday, February 24.
The robot arm on ISS shifted the Japanese freighter docked there to a different port today to clear a path for the shuttle.
According to its manager, the budget troubles of the James Webb Space Telescope will likely keep it on the ground until 2016.
This is terrible news for space-based astrophysics. Until Webb gets launched, NASA will have no money for any other space telescope project. And since all the space telescopes presently in orbit are not expected to be operating at the end of the decade, by 2020 the U.S. space astronomy program will essentially be dead.
Then again, there is the private sector, as Google Lunar X Prize is demonstrating.
Now, was that so hard? The U.S. military is turning to the private sector to fill its satellite communications needs.
How hibernating bears could help man get to Mars.
This week’s release of cool images from Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter included the color image below of a region on the floor of Holden Crater, one of the four possible landing sites for Curiosity, the Mars Science Laboratory planned for launch later this year. (If you want to see the entire image at higher resolution, you can download it here.)
Two things that immediately stand out about this image (other than this looks like an incredibly spectacular place to visit):
The Google Lunar X Prize has announced the final roster of teams competing for its $30 Million prize.
‘Watson’ the computer creams human ‘Jeopardy!’ champs. Key quote:
“I for one welcome our new computer overlords,” contestant Ken Jennings — who holds the “Jeopardy!” record of 74 straight wins — cheekily wrote on his answer screen at the conclusion of the much-hyped three-day showdown.
Thousands of previously unknown ruins in Saudi Desert spotted from space.
Meanwhile, up on ISS two Russians have successfully completed a five hour spacewalk, getting all their work done early.
Europe’s second ISS freighter, dubbed Johannes Kepler, launched successfully today.
