Star Trek Geek – Captain Kirk wakes the crew of Discovery
March 8, 2011
geek Discovery, NASA, Space Shuttle wake up call, star trek, William Shatner Leave a comment
NASA Geek – Discovery departs ISS on last mission
March 7, 2011
geek, News Discovery, Endeavor, international space station, last flight of Discovery, NASA, Space Shuttle Leave a comment
Discovery departs from ISS. Photo Credit: NASA
Space Shuttle OV-103, Discovery, pulls away from the International Space Station on Monday, March 7, 2011. This is the final voyage of Discovery, after 39 missions in 27 years. NASA is retiring the Shuttle fleet this year, due to concerns regarding the stresses on the vehicles from repeated launching and landings. While designed, built, and maintained for multiple missions, the Shuttles are, like any heavily used machine, subject to wear and tear, and at some point become a safety risk above and beyond the dangers inherent in space flight. Endeavor, OV-105, is being prepped for it’s final mission in the VAB at Kennedy Space Center.
My First Album
March 6, 2011
geek, Humor, Personal Facebook, my first album, randomness Leave a comment
Some Facebook fun:
1 – Go to Wikipedia and hit random. The first random Wikipedia article you get is the name of your band. 2 – Go to quotationspage.com and hit random. The last four or five words of the very last quote of the page is the title of your first album. 3 – Go to Flickr and click on “explore the last seven days.” Third picture, no matter what it is, will be your album cover. 4 – Use photoshop (I used MS Paint) or similar to put it all together. 5 – Post it with this text in the “caption” and TAG the friends you want to join in.
Phasers not included
March 3, 2011
geek, News space plane, unmanned shuttle plane, USAF orbital vehicle, X-37B Leave a comment
What happened to X-37A? Photo credit: USAF/Vandenberg Air Force Base
The Air Force is getting ready to launch the X-37B sooper-secret space plane Friday, March 4, 2011, from Kennedy Space Center, Florida. (Actually, it’s launching from the next-door Cape Canaveral Air Force Station) It’s a big secret, though, so don’t expect launch-to-landing coverage on NASA TV for this puppy. Unmanned, and able to leap tall buildings in a single bound…. oops, sorry, I mean able to remain in orbit for up to 270 days, the new ship is a test platform for something. What that something is, or what those somethings are, remain a secret. So while the X-37B is a secret space plane, it’s not a secret, but what it does IS a secret. Or something like that. Read all about it at Space.com. Well, not ALL about it. Just something about it. If we told you the rest, they’d have to kill you. And maybe us. So let’s not go there.
NASA Geek – NASA TV
March 2, 2011
geek international space station, ISS, NASA TV, NASA TV HD Leave a comment
Watching the astronauts suit up for a spacewalk. You can see it on your cable/satellite system, or online at NASA TV.
There is a HD feed at http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/nasatv/ustream.html that is actually ahead of my satellite tv system feed! That’s a bit strange to me… the HD internet feed is a split second ahead of the satellite feed, and well ahead of the standard internet feed. If you’ve got a broadband connection, the HD is the way to watch online! Spacewalks are a lot of work, but you get a break beforehand… you just float there while your astro-buddies do all the work getting your suit ready to go! Once you step outside, though, it’s about 6 hours of steady work, and no coffee breaks. Bathroom breaks are a bit different, too.
More Space Geek – Space Station/Discovery photographed by amateur – from the ground!
February 28, 2011
geek astrophotography, Discovery, ISS, space geek, Space Staion Leave a comment
Photo Credit: Rob Bullen
Another incredible Space Geek photo from Bad Astronomer Phil Plait. This photo taken in the United Kingdom, from the ground! The telescope is an 8.5 inch model, which is not all that big as far as telescopes go. This image captured Saturday February 26, 2011.
Space Geek – Moons, Rings of Saturn
February 28, 2011
geek, Pictures Cassini, Dione, JPL, NASA, Rhea, Saturn Leave a comment
From the space probe Cassini, in orbit around Saturn:
Image credit: NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute
Bad Astronomer Phil Plait says:
The moon at the top is Rhea, which is about 1500 km (950 miles) across. We’re looking past its south pole here. The moon farther away is Dione, which is 1100 km (700 miles) in size. And since Cassini was very nearly in the plane of Saturn’s equator, the rings are nearly edge-on. Note that Dione is on the other side of the rings as seen by Cassini, so the bottom of the moon is obscured by the rings. We can’t see Saturn itself, but it’s off to the left in this shot.
Rhea is only a little bigger than Dione, but is a lot closer in this shot: 61,000 km versus 924,000 for Dione! That’s why Dione looks so much smaller. As seen by Cassini in this shot, it’s actually more than twice as far as our Moon is from the Earth. Both moons are composed of mostly water ice, with some rock. Both have been heavily battered by impacts, as you can see.
Robot Geek – R2A Sees off twin at launch
February 26, 2011
geek, Pictures NASA robot, R2A, R2D2, Shuttle Discovery.International Space Station, Space Shuttle launch with robot 1 Comment
R2A waves as twin is launched into space on mission to ISS
Robot R2A “waves” to the Space Shuttle Discovery as it lifts off on it’s journey to the International Space Station. On board is a twin unit to be installed aboard ISS for testing and maintenance. R2A is mounted on the Centaur mobile platform. Photo credit: NASA.
NASA Geek – Discovery’s Last Launch
February 24, 2011
geek, Pictures Discovery, last launch, NASA Leave a comment
Photo: NASA
JimmieJoe / KC6YRU 
They Came From Outer Space
March 7, 2011
Jim Reeves commentary, geek, Personal Discovery, ISS, NASA, Space Station, transit, visalia Leave a comment
I didn’t take this picture. It’s not of the sight from tonight. It gives only an idea of what I saw streaking across the sky above my home. Two points of light (streaks here due to shutter timing) floating silently overhead. The Space Shuttle Discovery, followed by the International Space Station.
I subscribe to a service that will send me a message by Twitter about Space Station transits viewable from my home. Today’s message told me a “very bright” ISS would be visible. I set the alarm on my iPhone. They neglected to mention that it would be a double whammy on this pass!
It was, literally, a once-in-a-lifetime event. I can’t begin to describe how I felt as I saw it.
More
Share this: