Cassini has been photographing Saturn and it’s moons for some time now. It appears that scientists have evidence of liquid on the surface of Titan. The liquid is ethane. It’s not drinkable, but the discovery is interesting nonetheless.
Sweet.
I have a soft spot in my heart for JPL (Jet Propulsion Laboratories). There was a time when out best and brightest went there to develop rockets. Now, JPL is responsible many of our unmanned missions. Unfortunately, they are on tight budgets but they do remarkable work.
Wow, who knew? DailyKos has more.
From MSNBC:
A NASA spacecraft plunged into the atmosphere of Mars and landed in the Red Planet’s northern polar region on Sunday to begin 90 days of digging in the permafrost to look for evidence of the building blocks of life.
Cheers swept through Mission Control at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory when the touchdown signal from the Phoenix Mars Lander was detected after a nail-biting descent. (more…)
I try to make it a habit to always post video when the space shuttle takes off. But it never took off two or three days ago. Unfortunately, it took off at approximately 2 a.m this morning. The video, which I would have expected to be spectacular, was almost as exciting as watching paint dry. Once Endeavour cleared the tower, you really couldn’t see the shuttle. It was extremely disappointing.
The good news is all appears to be going well. Below, is the “Image of the Day” from NASA.
Sweet landing. I love watching the Space Shuttle. It appears that Atlantis had a great trip with no major flaws.
I’m a nerd. I admit it. I love NASA and the space shuttle. I follow every mission as close as I can given my schedule. I was seriously bummed when we lost the 2 shuttles.
Atlantis took off today. (I should have the video soon.) In the first 2 minutes of any shuttle flight there are 2 procedures that I just love. The first one is the roll of the shuttle just after takeoff. To take something that big and going that fast and precisely roll it, is amazing to me. The second is the shuttle going through the sound barrier. The shuttle has to throttle down to reduce stress. After it passes through the sound barrier, Mission Control simply says, “Atlantis, go with throttle up.” Now, here is where my love for speed would kick in. The Commander will usually say something like, “Throttle up.” Very calm and understated. I’m sorry. I would have worked over 10 years to get in that chair and to be in that position. My response would be, “Hell, yeah. All of you Porsche and Ferrari owners, bite me. Throttle way up!” In a matter of seconds, I would flying faster than 2,000 mph. So, that is one reason why I won’t be flying the shuttle. The other reasons are I’m terribly out of shape and I get sea sick watching a glass of water. Besides that I’m ready!
BTW, not to bring up politics, but didn’t Bush promise to send a man to Mars and back to the moon? Those proposals were DOA before the echo had died in the room.
This was a huge mission. Prolonged difficult spacewalks. Absolutely a great accomplishment. We need more of this. I need something to be proud of.
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From CNN.com:
Discovery and its crew returned to Earth on Wednesday and concluded a 15-day space station build and repair mission that was among the most challenging — and heroic — in shuttle history.
The space shuttle touched down just after 1 p.m., after safely crossing the continent in the first coast-to-coast re-entry since the Columbia disaster almost five years ago.
Commander Pamela Melroy was greeted by crisp fall weather as she brought Discovery down on the runway. (more…)
This is why I love NASA. A problem develops that you never anticipated. They brainstorm and come up with a workable solution. I love it.
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From CNN.com:
A spacewalking astronaut fixed a ripped solar energy panel on the international space station Saturday in a difficult and dangerous emergency procedure.
Spacewalker Scott Parazynski installed five improvised “cufflink” braces on the torn wing and clipped the snarled wires that had ripped it in two places as it was being unfurled Tuesday.
He then watched as the crew slowly deployed the wing to its full 115-foot length, watching closely for more problems. The wing was about three-quarters unfurled when the crew noticed the damage on Tuesday. (more…)
I never tire of seeing the shuttle take off and land. I’m still amazed at the roll that the shuttle does just after take off. If I were going to invest over $400 billion I would build another shuttle using today’s technology. We have to be able to make space travel safer. (I would also use some of the money to develop alternative fuels and have them ready to go in 3 years. With serious money, we can do that.)
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From CNN.com:
Space shuttle Discovery and a crew of seven rocketed into orbit Tuesday in pursuit of the international space station, where a formidable construction job awaits them.
Discovery blasted off at 11:38 a.m., ducking through clouds. It carried a giant Tinkertoy-type link that must be installed at the space station before European and Japanese laboratories can arrive.
Despite a forecast calling for rain right at launch time, the weather ended up cooperating. (more…)
Sweet. Teacher in space. Long overdue.
I don’t want to speak too soon but we get some things right. Americans can do some things right. Very few man made things are as beautiful as the shuttle taking off.
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From NYT:
A patched-up Atlantis blasted off with seven astronauts Friday on the first space shuttle flight of 2007, putting NASA back on track after a run of bad luck and scandal that included a damaging hailstorm and a lurid love triangle.
Its big orange fuel tank covered with white blotches where the foam insulation had been repaired, the spaceship rose from its seaside launch pad with a roar and climbed into a clear and still-brightly lit sky at 7:38 p.m. EDT, setting a course for the international space station. (more…)
One of our astronauts who had the Right Stuff is dead. Wally Schirra.
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From WaPo:
Walter M. Schirra Jr., 84, one of the original seven astronauts and the only man to fly in the Mercury, Gemini and Apollo space programs, died of a heart attack May 3 at Scripps Green Hospital in La Jolla, Calif. He also had cancer.
The quick-witted Navy captain, who was known as Wally, was the fifth American in space at a time when NASA’s manned space program was young and untested. His Oct. 3, 1962, Mercury flight, which lasted 9 hours, 13 minutes and 11 seconds, was considered textbook-perfect. The capsule splashed down only 4.5 miles from the aircraft carrier Kearsarge in the Pacific Ocean. (more…)
Where Montel? I know he is all over this one.
Sweet landing.
I love it!
I love watching the shuttle take off. I know that it is 1960’s /70’s technology but man, it is still impressive.
Errington C. Thompson, MD, is a surgeon, scholar, fulltime sports fan and part-time political activist. He is active in a number of community projects and initiatives. Through medicine, he strives to improve the physical health of all he treats...
