Cumulonimbus Cloud Over Africa
August 9, 2010
geek, Pictures clouds from space, NASA, picture of the day 4 Comments
Mad Scientists
July 24, 2010
commentary, geek Arctic Voyage 2010, mad scientist, NASA, polar ice cap research Leave a comment
Yes, it’s true. There really ARE mad scientists! This group is walking around, doing science (important stuff) on ice floes in the Arctic. On ice. In the Arctic!
They’re mad, I tell you! Mad!
Look at that… bbrrrrrr!
Apollo 11
July 20, 2010
commentary, geek, Personal Apollo 11, first landing on the moon, Luna, Moon, NASA 3 Comments
41 years ago. Today. I was watching it live on television, glued to the set. Possibly the most exciting thing, the most promising, the most noble thing that ever happened in my life, before or since. This one event will be the first thing remembered about our time centuries from now. The wars, the changes, the technological advances… all those will pale before these few days in 1969.
Watching it then, I expected Moon bases, space stations, and a mission to Mars by now. The politics of the 60’s and 70’s ended those dreams before they were enacted, and the promise of my future off the planet was stillborn. I’m still disgusted by the petty nonsense that ended those dreams, and replaced them with the chronically underfunded NASA programs that led to the Shuttle and International Space Station. While the ISS is a good thing to have, and I’m glad we did it, it was done for the wrong reasons and in the wrong way. The Space Station should have been a jumping off point for the Moon bases and Mars. We’re doing a lot of good research there, and it’s important, but it’s not what I was expecting.
I should have been writing this blog from my apartment at Luna City, instead of my couch in Visalia. Born too soon, I guess.
It’s Not All Glamour and Excitement in Outer Space!
July 2, 2010
geek glamour, ISS, NASA, space toilet Leave a comment
Scheduled maintenance of the toilet on the International Space Station. Even NASA geek has some shitty moments! 😉
Tip ‘o the flush to Twitpic via @Astro_Wheels
More NASA Geek – Next Mars Rover is HUGE!
July 1, 2010
geek Curiosity, Mars rover, NASA, wheels Leave a comment
Wow… this puppy is HUGE! Mars rover Curiosity just had it’s wheels installed! Set for launch in late 2011, Curiosity is set to really explore Mars!
NASA page, here.
More NASA Geek
June 30, 2010
geek NASA, voyager, voyager 2 Leave a comment
Voyager 2 at 12,000 Days: The Super-Marathon Continues
From NASA’s Voyager Website.
NASA’s plucky Voyager 2 spacecraft has hit a long-haul operations milestone today (June 28) — operating continuously for 12,000 days. For nearly 33 years, the venerable spacecraft has been returning data about the giant outer planets, and the characteristics and interaction of solar wind between and beyond the planets. Among its many findings, Voyager 2 discovered Neptune’s Great Dark Spot and its 450-meter-per-second (1,000-mph) winds.
The two Voyager spacecraft have been the longest continuously operating spacecraft in deep space. Voyager 2 launched on August 20, 1977, when Jimmy Carter was president. Voyager 1 launched about two weeks later on Sept. 5. The two spacecraft are the most distant human-made objects, out at the edge of the heliosphere — the bubble the sun creates around the solar system. Mission managers expect Voyager 1 to leave our solar system and enter interstellar space in the next five years or so, with Voyager 2 on track to enter interstellar space shortly after that.
Having traveled more than 21 billion kilometers (13 billion miles) on its winding path through the planets toward interstellar space, the spacecraft is now nearly 14 billion kilometers (9 billion miles) from the sun. A signal from the ground, traveling at the speed of light, takes about 12.8 hours one-way to reach Voyager 2.
Voyager 1 will reach this 12,000-day milestone on July 13, 2010 after traveling more than 22 billion kilometers (14 billion miles). Voyager 1 is currently more than 17 billion kilometers (11 billion miles) from the sun.
The Voyagers were built by JPL, which continues to operate both spacecraft. Caltech manages JPL for NASA.
For more information about the Voyagers, visit: http://voyager.jpl.nasa.gov/.
The Sky on Fire
June 20, 2010
commentary, Pictures aurora australis, Earth, ISS, NASA, souther lights, Space Station Leave a comment
Planet Earth.
South Polar region.
The sky is on “fire”.
The aurora australis — the southern lights — snakes its way across the Earth’s magnetic field as seen from above!
In this picture taken by astronauts aboard the International Space Station, charged particles from the sun interact with the Earth’s magnetic field, lighting up the sky.
Things like this is why I prefer science to superstition and mythology. Those stories are entertaining, and inform much morality, but they pale before the real thing. This isn’t because some “god” decided to light the sky on fire, this is simply the end result of natural processes. Figuring out why it happens, how that might affect us, and that it might lead to other exciting discoveries and advances is what science is all about. How unsatisfying to say merely “because God made it that way”.
In Honor of Geek Week
May 26, 2010
News, Pictures Atlantis, Geek Week, International Space Station transits sun, ISS, NASA, Rachel Maddow Show Leave a comment
This is Geek Week on the Rachel Maddow show, so in honor of that, and of the recent STS-132 mission, here’s a picture of Atlantis docked at the International Space Station as it transits across the Sun!
Picture from “Bad Astronomy”.
JimmieJoe / KC6YRU 
In Space, No One Can Hear You Scream
July 25, 2010
Jim Reeves commentary, geek, Humor Bill Gates of Borg, ISS, NASA, Space Station, Windows error message Leave a comment
…unless your microphone is open.
So, you’re an astronaut on the International Space Station. You’ve got important work to perform. You’re floating in the most expensive, complex, and technologically advanced tin can ever created. You have the best hardware that your fellow rocket scientists can provide. There’s just one problem…
You’re running Windows!
I was just tuning past NASA TV, and stopped to listen and watch for a few minutes. A member of the station crew was talking to Houston’s Mission Control, and informed them of a computer problem. One of the laptops in the Russian segment was giving her problems. She read off the error message, and it was that dreaded “missing or corrupt” screen that silently mocks you to do anything about it.
Curse you, Bill Gates!
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