They’re NASA and they know it…
August 15, 2012
geek, video Curiosity, hawk-man, JPL, Mars, We're NASA and we know it Leave a comment
Space Cadet Jimmiejoe is a happy boy – Curiosity safely on Mars
August 5, 2012
commentary, geek, News Curiosity, JPL, Mars landers, MSL, NASA, space Leave a comment
Photo illustration by NASA
Here’s what it might look like if you were there right now. Curiosity is safely on the surface of Mars! After a 7 minute landing program that took the lander from 13,000 MPH to a soft landing, the first pictures have been downloaded. Science starts soon!
Photo: Mars Curiosity/NASA
The parachute popped exactly right. The retro-rockets fired perfectly, bringing it to a hover over the ground, then dropped it to the ground on a sky crane system that has never before been attempted. Now the rover begins at least two years of science work.
Space Cadet Jimmiejoe is jumping up and down like crazy. I’m glad to see he’s still around.
Space Station passed over my house last night
August 4, 2012
geek, video Aldeberan, international space station, ISS, Jupiter, Venus, visalia Leave a comment
Go to full screen to glimpse the station.
Shock and Awe
June 24, 2012
commentary, Gay, geek, Personal Adam Bouska, following blogs, NOH8, Snoopy dance, Wordpress Leave a comment
My chin hurts.
It hurts because it hit the floor a few minutes ago, when my jaw dropped.
As I was logging on to WordPress today to check my “dashboard”, as they call the administration pages for the blog, I noticed something that surprised me to no end. I clicked on the little icon that indicates administrative messages waiting to be read. Those messages indicate when someone “liked” your blog, reblogged one of your posts, or signed up to receive email notices when a new post goes up. I’ve got 161 followers as of this writing. It was # 161 that gave me a sore chin.
Adam Bouska is now following my blog! (insert Snoopy dance here. In a dignified, appropriate for a 54 year old gentleman sort of way, of course. Oh, hell, never mind dignity… full on Snoopy dance.)
Adam is the photographer behind the NOH8 Campaign, who has taken literally tens of thousands of NOH8 photos, the ones you see on websites, Facebook profiles, Tweets, and almost anywhere you see people working against discrimination. From everyday people like you and me, to movie stars, musicians, politicians, and simply the “stars” of our society, people line up at the frequent NOH8 Campaign photo shoots that Adam and his team do across the country.
One such open shoot is coming to Fresno on July 13, and I’m going to have to finagle a way to be there, because I have to work that night. I’ll figure out something, though.
The Lady and the Enterprise
June 6, 2012
geek, News Enterprise, Intrepid, NASA, New York, Space Shuttle Leave a comment
The Space Shuttle Enterprise is on it’s way to New York’s Intrepid museum by barge. It has been lifted onto the flight deck of the U.S.S. Intrepid, the retired aircraft carrier now permanently on display in New York Harbor. The Enterprise was the first Shuttle built, and used for flight and landing tests in the late 1970’s. It was originally planned to be retro-fitted for spaceflight, and be the second orbiter, but structural refitting to bring the Enterprise to acceptable specifications became to expensive. The decision was made that it would be cheaper to build a new orbiter (Challenger) than to disassemble and rebuild Enterprise. Enterprise has been on display at the Smithsonian Air & Space Museum’s Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center at Dulles International Airport since 2003.
Space Geek: Another private spaceship begins testing
May 31, 2012
geek, News Dragon, Dream Chaser, international space station, ISS, Space X, US spacecraft Leave a comment
Dream Chaser took to the air for the first time, in what is called a “captive carry” test. Designed to test hardware, facilities, and ground operations, the test was conducted at Rocky Mountain Metropolitan Airport in Jefferson County, Colorado. A heavy-lift helicopter… lifted it. Eventually, they’ll let it go, and see if it can fly!
This one sure looks more like a spaceship than the Dragon, which just successfully docked with the International Space Station, and splashed down today in the Pacific Ocean. Of course, the Dragon is a working system, based on tried and true technology. The Dream Chaser is following in the footsteps of the Shuttle, a very much more complex design. I’m crossing my fingers.
56 episodes of Star Trek. All at once!
April 26, 2012
geek 56 episodes, multiple videos, Star Trek episodes Leave a comment
This is cool!
OK, Scotty, NOW you can beam me up!
The weirdness of Google, et al
April 9, 2012
commentary, geek, Personal algorithms, blogging traffic, search engine hits 1 Comment
Google, Yahoo, Bing, Alta Vista… and literally dozens of others of which most of us have never heard. Search engines to find anything and everything on the web. How they operate is a mystery, and one that we seldom think much about, if at all. For those of us who obsess over the “stats” on our blogs, however, those algorithms can mean fame, or ignoble invisibility.
On this blog, I’ve noticed a steadily increasing number of hits, and I’ve patted myself on the back on my increasing readership. Then I noticed something that pretty much deflated my burgeoning ego.
Wise Words From A Wise Man
March 30, 2012
geek, Humor Abraham Lincoln, internet quotes Leave a comment
JimmieJoe / KC6YRU 
7 Minutes of Terror – landing on Mars – by Sky-Crane
August 6, 2012
Jim Reeves commentary, geek, News, video 7 minutes, Curiosity, JPL, landing on Mars, NASA, seven minutes of terror 1 Comment
This is the best video I’ve seen so far explaining how Curiosity was designed to land. I’m just amazed that it worked. Twelve year old Space Cadet Jimmiejoe was bouncing up and down, telling me it was going to work no sweat, but I really didn’t believe him. I worried that the parachute would fail, or the heat shield would get hung up, or the retro-rockets wouldn’t fire correctly… and I really sweated the whole sky-crane thing. That was just crazy writ large! Hover 60 feet in the air, and drop this huge thing down on a tether? Are they nuts?? Then the tethers had to be cut, allowing the rocket frame to fly away. If that hadn’t worked, it would have dropped on top of the lander once it’s fuel ran out.
BUT IT WORKED!
Congratulations to NASA and JPL!
You know what would be cool? I know it can’t happen, but wouldn’t it be something if Curiosity could, at the end of it’s science programs, drive to one of the other lander’s locations, just to visit? Too far, over terrain that would probably be impossible, and the mechanisms of the machine would likely never survive, but that would be something to see.
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