You are browsing the archive for Humans in Space.
24 September 2009
Water on the Moon
In case you haven’t heard yet, there is quite the buzz building about three separate results that indicate that there is water on the lunar surface. There isn’t much: moon rocks returned by Apollo are pretty darn dry, but it’s still an exciting result, and it means that future missions might be able to extract water for drinking and rocket fuel. I was especially surprised to hear that the water …
12 September 2009
Disney's "Mars and Beyond"
I just stumbled across this awesome Disney cartoon from 1957 over at the Tor.com blog. It’s worth watching just for the various bizarre aliens, but is also surprisingly informative about the history of astronomy, the origin of earth and life, and our fascination with life on Mars. Also note how they call galaxies “island universes”.
8 September 2009
Augustine Commission Summary Report Posted
I’ve posted before about the “Augustine Commission” – a panel of aerospace experts assembled to assess the status of NASA’s human spaceflight program. Well, today they released a 12 page summary of their findings. The full report is still in the works, but this 12 page summary is the short and sweet version. I strongly encourage you to take a few minutes and read the summary, but if you don’t …
3 September 2009
Review of 'Defying Gravity'
Hi folks. I’m still neck-deep in paper revisions, so if you’re looking for something to read, Joe Shoer has a good review of the new sci-fi show “Defying Gravity”. I’ve never seen it, but his review makes a good point that it’s refreshing and promising to see a popular show that is pro-space exploration.
31 July 2009
Reasons for Human Space Exploration
I posted my nine reasons for human space exploration a while back, but with all the discussion of human spaceflight lately, my friend Joe Shoer, “quantum mechanic and rocket scientist extraordinaire,” decided to do the same and posted his top five reasons for sending humans to space. His are quite a bit more detailed and well-written than mine. Here’s a teaser, but you should take a look at the full …
30 July 2009
Thoughts on the Augustine Comission's Public Meetings
For the past three days, the “Augustine Commission” has been holding public meetings as part of their study of the future of NASA’s human spaceflight program. They still have a few weeks before their final report is due on the President’s desk, but the public meetings have been a great view into the current status of NASA and where the committee’s thoughts are pointing. Here is my attempt to act …
24 July 2009
The Future of NASA
Earlier this week I mentioned that there is an ongoing evaluation of the future of human spaceflight at NASA. The so-called “Augustine commission” has been tasked to: “conduct an independent review of ongoing U.S. human space flight plans and programs, as well as alternatives, to ensure the Nation is pursuing the best trajectory for the future of human space flight – one that is safe, innovative, affordable, and sustainable. The …
20 July 2009
NASA Then and Now
Forty years ago today, the world watched as Apollo 11 landed on the surface of the moon. All day today, I have been reading accounts from people who witnessed the landing. They have almost unanimously expressed the awe and wonder of seeing human being set foot upon the surface of another world. But another common thread is that of disappointment. The Apollo program achieved great things in its time, but …
Carnival of Space #112: Apollo's 40th Anniversary!
Today is the 40th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing! I will have more to say about this later, but for now, let me direct you to this week’s Carnival of Space over at ‘Out of the Cradle’. There are also some great sites celebrating this anniversary, including: NASA (duh), “We Choose the Moon“, a very cool site that shows the events of the mission and lots of other …
17 July 2009
LRO Images of Apollo Landing Sites!
Just in time for the 40th anniversary of Apollo 11, the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera (LROC) team have released images of the Apollo landing sites. These pictures show the lower half of the Lunar Module (LM), the scientific instruments left on the surface, and even the tracks where the astronauts walked! Awesome. Of course, the moon hoax believers will not be convinced by this photographic evidence that humans have walked …
