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Thursday, 31 May 2007
Once In A Blue Moon
So, yeah, there's a blue moon tonight.Just so you know.
Wednesday, 30 May 2007
Going Out For A Walk
The two cosmonauts on the International Space Station will venture outside today for a spacewalk to install debris protection panels on the station's exterior. The spacewalk will begin around 1:20 CDT, will last about six hours and will almost certainly be covered by NASA TV.
Used tags: apple, international_space_station, space, steve_jobs
Strange New Worlds
Per UC-Berkeley:The world's largest and most prolific team of planet hunters announced Monday, May 28, the discovery of 28 new planets outside our solar system, increasing to 236 the total number of known exoplanets.
...
Wright said the research teams have become much more sophisticated in their analyses of the stellar wobbles caused by orbiting planets, enabling them to detect the weaker wobbles caused by smaller planets as well as planets farther from their parent stars.
"We've added 12 percent to the total in the last year, and we're very proud of that," said Wright of the 28 new exoplanets. "This provides new planetary systems so that we can study their properties as an ensemble."
Used tags: astronomy, planets, space
Wednesday, 9 May 2007
Free Cover Sunday Discussion
This past weekend I used up the last of the songs I originally had in mind when I started Free Cover Sunday back in March. Thus, I want some input on whether to continue it. I like the idea, but have no clue where it would go from here. So I need to know whether it's actually worth the work, and if anybody has any idea of songs I could use in the future.
I would appreciate any comments you have on what you liked or didn't like, or whether you even cared. (If you know any songs, don't post them here, since that would sort of defeat the purpose. E-mail them to me by clicking on my name at the bottom of this post.)
And for the any lurkers who aren't going to post comments but are interested in the fact of FCS, here's a one-click place to let me know whether you listened to any of the songs:
Yeah, I downloaded or listened to some (3 votes)
Nope, I never did (0 votes)
Yeah, I listened, but they were garbage (1 votes)
And, in case you missed any, here are all the Free Cover Sunday songs so far:
- Phil Collin's "One More Night," as performed by Nina Gordon
- Elvis Costello's "Veronica," as performed by Sarah Masen
- Britney Spears' "Toxic," as performed by Nickel Creek, and "Oops I Did It Again," as performed by "Louis Armstrong"
- U2's "Sunday Bloody Sunday," as performed by George W. Bush (via rx)
- The Black Eyed Peas' "My Humps," as performed by Alanis Morissette
- Sir Mix-A-Lot's "Baby Got Back," as performed by Jonathan Coulton
Used tags: blog, free_cover_sunday, funny, music
STS-117 Update
U.S. Air Force Thunderbird F-16 jets fly in formation past the Vehicle Assembly Building in the Industrial Area of Kennedy Space Center. The purpose of the flyover was to photograph the planes at KSC for promotional purposes.Photo by Kennedy Space Center
OK, that picture has nothing to do with STS-117, other than the fact that it shows the VAB, where preparations are currently underway to get the shuttle ready for roll-out, expected to take place next week.
Anyway, this update is just to point out that as of today, it's currently one month until the scheduled STS-117 launch of Atlantis.
Used tags: ksc, launch_schedule, nasa, space, space_shuttle, sts_117, vab
Saturday, 5 May 2007
Today In History
On this date in 1961, the era of American human spaceflight began.
Used tags: history, mercury, nasa, space
Friday, 4 May 2007
Gordo's Final Flight Update
Whoops.After the weekend's SpaceLoft's SL-2 suborbital spaceflight, the rocket's payload, including the ashes of Mercury astronaut Gordon Cooper and Star Trek actor James Doohan, can't be found.
There is hope nearly a week later of finding the rocket’s payload of ashes and experiments.The ashes had originally been going to fly on the second flight of SpaceX's Falcon I. As it turns out, despite delays in the Falcon program, that flight still launched first, and, while it ended up being unintentionally suborbital, I tend to think at the moment that burning up on re-entry might have been a more fitting end that being misplaced. (I'll hasten to add, though, that this is just my impression from the handful of stories I've read -- there may be other things going on I'm unaware of.)
Word from Jerry Larson, President of the rocket group, is that recovery of the payload has been slowed by rough, dense terrain and windy conditions in the mountains 30 miles away from Spaceport America and within the White Sands Missile Range.
The SpaceLoft XL booster was successfully located earlier on the side of a mountain, but the helicopter crew could not find the rocket’s payload...
Larson has advised me that analysis of White Sands Missile Range radar skin track data revealed both the payload and booster had reentered Earth’s atmosphere under drogue parachutes as planned. That same data further pinpointed where the payload is, he noted.
Used tags: altspace, mercury, space, star_trek
Sulu II
John Lim as Sulu in Star Trek: New Voyages
Is this the new face of Sulu? If George Takei had his way, it would be.
Asked who he would like to see take over the role of Sulu in J.J. Abrams' Trek XI, Takei endorsed fan-film actor John Lim, whom he worked with recently on an upcoming episode of Star Trek: New Voyages.
To be honest, I don't like the idea any less than that of Lost's Daniel Dae Kim taking the role, which is another rumor/suggestion that's been batted around a lot. That said, I think they could probably do better than either of those, but the idea of New Voyages, and the fan-film community in general, becoming a farm team for the Trek big leagues is one with interesting -- both good and bad -- possibilities.
Used tags: movies, star_trek, star_trek_xi
Metal Elvis
OK, it probably says something about me that I really disliked the Celine Dion/Elvis/American Idol thing last week, but I find Metal Elvis kind of cool.
Used tags: elvis, funny, music
F2F Saturday
It's also late notice, but I'll now also be playing in the Face2Face improv shows tomorrow night here in Huntsville (uh, "here in Huntsville" being a rather relative term on the internet, I guess). You can buy tickets for $6 online today (or $10 at the door tomorrow).And, as I mentioned yesterday, I'm playing tonight in Decatur, Ala. Online sales are over, but you can still buy tickets at the door.
Thursday, 3 May 2007
Godspeed, Skyray!
Wally Schirra, the third American to orbit the Earth, the only man to fly on Mercury, Gemini and Apollo missions, has died.
Schirra named the spacecraft for his six-orbit Mercury mission "Sigma 7" to recognize the contributions of all those whose work made the flight possible. (Using the engineering/mathematics "sum" meaning of Sigma.)
His Gemini 6A mission would make history as part of the first rendezvous between two manned spacecraft, 6A and Gemini 7. His pilot's instincts kept the mission from being historic in a tragic way -- when the Titan launch vehicle shut down on the pad, Schirra refused to use the ejection seats, which could well have killed the two cremembers.
In 1966, Schirra was assigned to Apollo 2, a planned second validation flight of the new three-person spacecraft. When that mission was cancelled, he and his crewmates became the back-up for the Apollo 1 crew. When a fire claimed the lives of the Apollo 1 crew, Schirra was tapped to command the first flight of the retooled Apollo; now Apollo 7.
Especially after the flight of John Glenn on STS-95, Schirra was asked if he would ever want to complete his series by flying on the shuttle. He would reply that, unlike Glenn, he had no desire to ride as a passenger, and didn't have the time to train to command a shuttle flight.
Schirra was the first of The Seven that I met, and the only one that I've had a conversation (albeit brief) with. On one of the occasions I saw him, he was speaking here at Marshall. He was a fascinating speaker, and his famed sense of humor was fully on display.
The first time I met him was at a symposium at the Naval air museum in Pensacola. I had only been working at Marshall for a few months, so he was probably in the first dozen astronauts I ever talked to. At the time, we were working on a series of astronaut profiles for the NASAexplores Web site, and so I approached him about whether he would be willing to let me get in touch with him later for an interview.
Schirra, of course, had no idea who this guy approaching him was, and likely got many requests like that, so is trying to politely decline, although I didn't realize that at the time. So he says the best way to get the information would be the internet, but he says it in such a way that I'm thinking he means I should contact him online. I have no idea how, and, probably seeing my confusion, he asks if I know how to do that.
I reply, no, thinking he's about to give me his e-mail address or Web URL or something. Instead, he begins explaining search engines to me.
And that's my story of how a Mercury astronaut taught me to use Google. Sort of.
To be honest, I just learned his death literally a minute or two before beginning to write this. I had gone to the NASA homepage to look something else up, and was shocked to see his picture, with "1923-2007" by his name. I wanted to write something, but didn't have anything good, so wrote this.
A huge loss. Truly.
Godspeed, Wally!
Used tags: history, mercury, nasa
Boosters Derailed
Photo by demopolistimes.com
Per NASA:
Officials from NASA and ATK Launch Systems, Edina, Minn., are assisting the Federal Railroad Administration during its investigation of a train derailment Wednesday morning near Pennington, Ala. The train was carrying space shuttle reusable solid rocket motor segments from the ATK Launch Systems manufacturing site in Brigham City, Utah, to NASA’s Kennedy Space Center, Fla.
"Several members of the NASA family were injured in this serious accident. Today our prayers are for those who have been injured and their families. Our employees work in hazardous jobs every day, and it is our goal to keep them safe," said NASA's Space Shuttle Program Manager Wayne Hale.
The special train carrying only solid rocket motor segments and a passenger car to monitor their transportation was crossing a bridge or a trestle, which collapsed under the locomotives. Six people were injured when the two locomotives and the passenger car dropped about 10 feet and turned on their sides.
One of the cars carrying a solid rocket motor segment is also on its side. The remaining cars containing seven solid rocket motor segments and two aft exit cone segments are upright.
The hardware was intended for use on shuttle Discovery's STS-120 mission in October and shuttle Atlantis's STS-122 mission in December. These segments are interchangeable, and ATK Launch Systems has replacement units that could be used for the shuttle flights, if necessary.
Each segment weighs approximately 300,000 lbs. and is protected by a white or yellow colored fiberglass cover during shipment. The condition of the rocket motor segments will be assessed as soon as teams conduct a full inspection. Solid Rocket Motor segments have been transported across country by rail for more than 26 years with an excellent record of safe transportation.
Notes The Demopolis Times: "It was the second time in less than a week that the train jumped the tracks while carrying the booster segments across the country from the manufacturer, ATK Launch Systems Group of Promontory, Utah, to Cape Canaveral, Fla., Herring said.
Last Friday, two axles on one car came off the tracks for unknown reasons about 60 miles west of Salina, Kan., while the train was traveling at less than 20 mph, Herring said. The train was back on the tracks after several hours, the spokesman said."
Used tags: nasa, sts_120, sts_122
F2Friday
It's late notice, but I'll be playing in the Face2Face improv shows tomorrow night at Java Jaay's in Decatur, in case anybody's interested and in the area. You can buy tickets for $6 online today (or $10 at the door tomorrow), and you have my personal guarantee that the shows will be at least $6 worth of fun, as measured by me.
Blame It On Mary Jane
It's Thursday, so this week's Hatbag has now been posted. Go check it out.We're still trying to make some progress in the top comic list polls again, so please feel more then free to vote Hatbag.
And, since apparently a bunch of ATW readers don't follow the weekly Hatbag link, I thought a brief explanation might be in order -- Hatbag is a weekly webcomic Lain and I create; following two old college buddies as they adjust to sort-of grown-up life. If you read ATW, take a few extra seconds to go read Hatbag. Please? Please?
Also, have a nice day.
Used tags: comics, hatbag, spider_man
Wednesday, 2 May 2007
That Lyric Thing Again
I used to do this here every once and a while, but haven't in quite a while, so I thought I'd give it a try. With my iTunes on random, I picked out lines from songs that it played. The challenge is to see how many of the songs and artists you can identify from the lines provided.I skipped some songs that I thought no one else would have, so I feel like this batch is really easy, but we'll see. (more)
Used tags: itunes, meme, music
Second Space
From Cosmic Log:
"Can anyone tell me what is the rocket equation?" the teacher asks. "That's a hard one," one of the students says. Then the teacher starts giving hints: "I use force to power my rockets. Force depends on the mass of the rocket."
Finally, another student types out the answer: "Thrust equals dM/dt (-vrel)."
I can already tell that I'm out of my depth. Thank goodness that most of the class time is taken up in rocket rides, launch-pad tours - and levitating from one cool spaceship to another. Levitating is the easiest way to go on a class field trip when you're in the virtual world known as Second Life.
During today's first class, Second Life's most prolific rocket-builder showed us many of his computer-generated creations - including a space shuttle taking shape at his secret hangar - and taught us a little real-life rocket science along the way.
I've never used/played/visited/whatever Second Life, but I've been really fascinated by things I've read about the virtual spaceflight community there.
Used tags: second_life, space, virtual_reality
Tuesday, 1 May 2007
Sour iGrapes
The iPhone, as it turns out, is doomed.At least, so says Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer, who tells USA Today that the iPhone has "no chance":
Apple's insistence on attaching its code to a premium device could prevent it from getting any more than a small percentage of the world's cellphone user base, Ballmer predicted.
Hmmmm ... sounds like it would be kind of like trying to conquer the portable music player market by distributing content with an exclusive file protocol. I mean, really, is there anyone creating cell phone "code" that's not linked to a particular brand of phone?
Used tags: apple, iphone, microsoft
Thursday, 31 May 2007
Once In A Blue Moon
There'll be one tonight. (Read Entry)Wednesday, 30 May 2007
Going Out For A Walk
Cosmonauts will perform spacewalk today (Read Entry)
Strange New Worlds
UC-Berkeley announced 28 new exoplanets. (Read Entry)Wednesday, 9 May 2007
Free Cover Sunday Discussion
Wherein the future of FCS is discussed. (Read Entry)
STS-117 Update
Launch is currently one month away. (Read Entry)Saturday, 5 May 2007
Today In History
On this date in 1961, Alan Shepard became the first American in space. (Read Entry)Friday, 4 May 2007
Gordo's Final Flight Update
SpaceLoft can't find payload with ashes of Cooper, Doohan (Read Entry)
Sulu II
Should New Voyages actor move to the big screen? (Read Entry)
Metal Elvis
The King's Classic Hits ... Metal Style! (Read Entry)
F2F Saturday
And the ones Saturday, as it turns out. (Read Entry)Thursday, 3 May 2007
Godspeed, Skyray!
Wally Schirra, 1923-2007 (Read Entry)
Boosters Derailed
Train carrying SRB segments derails in Alabama. (Read Entry)
F2Friday
I'll be doing the improv thing tomorrow night. (Read Entry)
Blame It On Mary Jane
The week's Hatbag strip is now online. (Read Entry)Wednesday, 2 May 2007
That Lyric Thing Again
Can you figure out which songs these lines are from? (Read Entry)
Second Space
Virtual rocket builder keeps it real. (Read Entry)Tuesday, 1 May 2007