A Playboy topless calendar pin-up that went into lunar orbit on Apollo 12 is up for sale.
Another government-operated business that is losing money: Arianespace is requesting financial aid from the member nations of the European Space Agency to avoid a loss in 2010. This despite the fact that “the current request comes at a time when Arianespace might be expected to be in prime financial health.”
NASA engineers are considering giving Discovery’s external tank the equivalent of a girdle in order to keep it from developing more cracks during launch. Key quote:
If that decision is made, it is unlikely NASA could complete the work, repair the tank’s foam insulation and get Discovery back out to the launch pad in time to support a launch attempt during the next available window, which opens Feb. 3 and closes Feb. 10. Work to beef up all 108 stringers at the top of the intertank almost certainly would delay Discovery’s launch on a space station resupply mission to the next available window, which opens Feb. 27 and closes in early March.
Groovy! The rock music group Muse wants to play music in space, and seems willing to buy the tickets to do it.
According to Wikileaks cables, the United States and Germany plan to develop a secret constellation of spy satellites. Though Germany denies the story, their denial is somewhat puzzling:
German Aerospace Center spokesman Andreas Schuetz said that such a project for a high-resolution optical satellite has been in discussion for the past two years under the name HIROS. “HIROS is neither a spy satellite, nor a secret project,” Schuetz said. He insisted that the project was to be used only for government purposes, “for example crisis management during natural catastrophes and for scientific uses.”
He refused to give any further details, saying the plan was still in the project stage and could not be discussed.
The repairs to the cracks on Discovery’s external tank continue, with the hope for a February 3 launch.
The new colonial movement: China to explore Mars with Russia this year.
Snapped connectors led to the failure last week of India’s GSLV rocket.
Though I have been saying that the Sun’s lack of sunspots the last two years suggests the possibility of that we might be facing an extended period without solar activity, I am not a solar scientist. Today, in a paper published today on the Los Alamos astro-ph website, a solar scientist says just that. Key quote:
One method that has yielded predictions consistently in the right range during the past few solar cycles is that of K. Schatten et al., whose approach is mainly based on the polar field precursor. The incipient cycle 24 [on-going right now] will probably mark the end of the Modern Maximum, with the Sun switching to a state of less strong activity.
Astronaut Buzz Aldrin has sued Topps for using his likeness in their trading cards.
Updated and bumped: The inspections reveal four additional cracks on Discovery’s external tank.
NASA engineers have finished a series of x-ray scans of Discovery’s external tank.
“Zombie” satellite comes back to life.
Russian space officials are fired over rocket failure.
Want to become an astronaut? The private company Astronauts4Hire is taking applications.
As I’ve said, it’s all pork: NASA’s Ares rocket is supposingly dead, but the continuing resolution from Congress requires NASA to spend $500 million more for it.
It is also a mess, but I’ve said that before also!
Bad news for India’s space program: It’s geosynchronous rocket, GSLV, failed today less than two minutes after launch. Key quote:
[The Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO)] has had a troubled past with GSLV, with only two of the seven launches so far claiming total success. Though ISRO claims that four launches had been successful, independent observers call at least two of them either failure or partial success. When it comes to launching its workhorse PSLV, ISRO has had 15 consecutive successes.
An evening pause: The Christmas eve telecast by the Apollo 8 astronauts from lunar orbit, December 24, 1968, probably the most listened to space telecast in history. The story behind how and why these men said what they did is the central theme of my first book, Genesis, the Story of Apollo 8.
Flying on empty to a comet.
The new colonial movement: For the first time China has matched the U.S. in space launches. Note that though the above article implies it, the U.S. has quite often not been the yearly leader in launches, as Russia has often topped the list. Nonetheless, with China now becoming more competitive the future of space travel can only get bettter.
For those who would are curious to hear me talk about the past year and what’s to come as well as celebrate the 42nd anniversary of the Christmas Eve reading of Genesis by the astronauts of Apollo 8, I will be appearing on David Livingston’s long running radio show/podcast, The Space Show, today at 9:30 am Pacific time (12:30 pm Eastern time). The interview is scheduled to last 90 minutes, but David and I usually end up going far longer.
Dr. Livingston has produced more than 1000 shows, interviewing almost every single important figure in the aerospace industry. As he noted recently:
The Space Show/One Giant Leap Foundation is a non-profit 501C3 and your contributions are deductible from your U.S. tax liability. But more important, your help is needed in getting the space message out there to as many as possible, including the movers and shakers in society and the space industry. Not only do we provide a platform for many of you and your own material, we play an increasingly larger and more important role in getting space development to go viral. However, we can’t do it without your help so if you are able to make a contribution to The Space Show/OGLF this year, not only will it be appreciated, it will be most beneficial in helping to achieve Space Show goals and objectives.
To this I heartily say, amen! If you want to find out what’s going on in the aerospace community, The Space Show is undeniably one of the best places to go. The show deserves our support, and for that reason I want to give it a enthusiastic plug. You can make contributions by Pay Pal on The Space Show website here or on the One Giant Leap Foundation website. Checks made payable to One Giant Leap Foundation, Inc. can be mailed to P.O. 95, Tiburon, CA 94920.
The hubbub about this week’s lunar solstice eclipse was, from my perspective, mostly manufactured press blather. For those who had never seen a lunar eclipse, it was a spectacular experience, but there really was nothing scientifically or technically unique about the fact that it happened to occur on the solstice.
However, below is an eclipse that is definitely unique both technically and scientifically. Scientists using the Mars rover Opportunity have filmed an eclipse on Mars, showing the Martian moon Phobos crossing in front of the Sun. Consider the engineering accomplishment: not only did they need to be able to calculate exactly when this would happen at a very particular spot on the Martian surface, they had to have a camera there able to take the movie. And they had to operate it from Earth!
So you think NASA’s gonna get some money, eh? According the Treasury Department, the government’s debt rose by $2 trillion last year alone.
The glide tests of SpaceShipTwo have exceeded expectations, and are ahead of schedule.
More evidence that the American government manned spaceflight program is dying: NASA is considering a merger of its Exploration and Operations directorates. Without a shuttle, there really is no need for Operations.
The first flight to test the taste of beer in microgravity has been delayed until February due to poor weather.
The space war over NASA continues: The continuing resolution being offered by the Senate would freeze NASA’s budget at 2010 numbers through March. Also,
NASA would be prohibited from initiating new programs, and could be required to continue spending about $200 million per month on the Moon-bound Constellation program.
As I’ve said repeatedly, the whole thing is a mess.
A valve leak in the Russian-built upper stage of India’s GSLV rocket has caused India to delay the launch.
What does this tell us about Boeing’s manned spaceflight efforts? The problems continue to pile up with Boeing’s new airplane, the 787 Dreamliner.
Private meets government: Rather than build it themselves, NASA’s Dryden Flight Research Center merely provided support for a drop test of a 15 percent scale model of a reusable spacecraft being designed and developed by the new-space company Sierra Nevada.
The initial results from the tank test performed today on the shuttle external tank are as yet inconclusive.
