November 7th, 2015
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Going up? Attention space elevator button pushers! A feature-length documentary called Sky Line is being released this month, an impressive view that follows a group of scientists and entrepreneurs as egos collide in an attempt to reach for the stars. The film, which centers on the real-life building of the once fantastical space elevator concept, […]
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In outer space everyone should hear you wash your hands! It turns out that the International Space Station (ISS) is a factory for churning out microbes that make for an unhealthy work place. The results of a new study provide “strong evidence” that specific human skin-associated microorganisms make a substantial contribution to the ISS […]
An issue with the Deep Space Network curtailed some Curiosity rover activity. In addition, the intentional “safe mode” status of the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) has meant less exchange between Earth and the Mars robot. “Still, even with limited data we were able to put together a good plan,” notes Ryan Anderson, a planetary scientist […]
For all you wannabe astronauts, keep an eye out for NASA’s next call for space explorers! The agency will accept applications from Dec. 14 through mid-February and expects to announce candidates selected in mid-2017. From pilots and engineers, to scientists and medical doctors, NASA selects qualified astronaut candidates from a diverse pool of U.S. citizens […]
NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover is now in Sol 1152 with the robot focused on analyzing its new surroundings after a drive of some 105 feet (32 meters). That drive on Sol 1148 last week put the rover “in range of some interesting rocks,” reports Ryan Anderson, a planetary scientist at the USGS Astrogeology Science Center […]
A treasure-trove of historical data – pictures, film and numerous documents – has been released by the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) regarding the secretive Cold War U.S. Air Force project known as the Manned Orbiting Laboratory (MOL). The NRO release of MOL information was timed for an event held on October 22 at the […]
After a voyage that lasted more than nine years, NASA’s New Horizons probe and its flight through the Pluto system last July conjures up feelings of the little spacecraft that could. Launched back in 2006, New Horizons has “staying power.” The piano-sized probe weighed at liftoff a modest 1,054 pounds (478 kilograms), energized by a […]
A mother lode of information – documents, pictures and a film – has been released by the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO). The material focuses on the classified Cold War U.S. Air Force project known as the Manned Orbiting Laboratory (MOL). Among duties of MOL crews included satellite reconnaissance activities called Project Dorian, but other tasks were […]
NASA’s Curiosity rover is just entering Sol 1143 on Mars. Recent rover research in the last few days involved both daytime and nighttime activities. According to Ken Herkenhoff of the USGS Astrogeology Science Center in Flagstaff, Arizona, unsieved parts of the recently collected Greenhorn drill sample are being dumped onto nearby ground. Using the rover’s […]
If you believe that the curtain is drawn and tightly closed on the fact that Unidentified Flying Objects (UFOs) are real and in the here and now, take note. There’s a new science team on the scene, just launched to acquire data on UFOs that may prove useful to science. The group is called “UFODATA” standing […]
