How do you understand something you can barely see, never visited and is light years away from us? By being really, really smart at connecting dots. In this video, NASA explains its process in figuring out what alien planets are like with the limited information it has.
     |
SpaceX celebrated a flawless launch of its Falcon 9 spacecraft from the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station on Wednesday. It delivered an SES-8 satellite into orbit without a glitch bringing the Falcon 9 one flight away from being qualified to fly missions for the Air Force. [SpaceX via BoingBoing]
| |
The NASA Van Allen twin probes launched last year have revealed that the Earth is a giant particle accelerator. Recently it was reported that particles in the magnetosphere sometimes accelerate across distances of a few hundred meters. But the newer discovery shows the acceleration can occur across hundreds of thousands of kilometers. The data will […]
NASA is always out to find new way to propel their rockets. One enterprising geek apparently took it upon himself to send NASA a proposal to power a rocket with a “shit load of Coke” and a bunch of Mentos. Clearly, the letter was meant as a joke, but NASA Associate Administrator Steven Malkovich took the time to respond.
Malkovich told the sender, one Mr. Jones, that it had no interest in his rocket proposal. NASA says there is no practical use for the tech, even if they used a “shit load” of Coke as Mr. Jones suggested. My favorite part of the NASA response is where they point out it takes years of training to become an astronaut.
Mr. Jones had apparently said that he wanted to be a “spaceman” and that it appeared to be so simple even a chimp could do it. You can click the image of the letter to get a better look at the text for yourself. I’m now crafting a much better plan to fuel rockets involving feeding astronauts a steady diet of Taco Bell Chilitos and a flatulence capturing apparatus.
[via Reddit]
The US Air force has put three different X-37 space planes into orbit. We still aren’t sure exactly what the spacecraft are doing in orbit. The last of the X-37B spacecraft to launch was the OTV-3 or Orbital Test Vehicle 3 mission. The spacecraft launched on December 11, 2012. That means that OTV-3 is only […]
One of the biggest challenges we face when it comes to exploring our solar system and spending time away from Earth is food and water. A spacecraft taking humans to explore the moon and beyond has to be able to carry the crew, air, fuel, water, and food to serve the entire mission. Finding ways […]
A few days ago, China successfully launched its Chang’e-3 mission to the moon. The rocket lifted off on December 1. While the launch went smoothly for China, some rocket debris did cause damage to property in the area. Two houses were reportedly damaged during the launch. No deaths were reported from the falling debris coming […]
After China launched its first ever lunar rover earlier this week
| |
Wearing a spacesuit is definitely no fun at all, especially if you are one who feels claustrophobic. Well, it seems that there is a new generation of spacesuits that are in the making, where engineers over at Kansas State University are hard at work, developing a prototype suit which is able to monitor an astronaut’s vital signs through the provision of power to integrated electronic components. The thing about this prototype spacesuit that makes it extra special is this – power is obtained from the astronaut’s body heat, now how about that for innovation?
The new prototype spacesuit happens to be a replica of the spacesuit that is used in the discontinued space shuttle program. Batteries happen to be too dangerous to use with spacesuits due to the amount of oxygen generated, so body heat is an ingenious method when it comes to an alternative energy source, don’t you think so? There will also be sensors embedded within that will measure just how one’s body changes when one is in space, and the data recorded include one’s pulse rate, blood oxygen levels, and respiration. Could such developments actually usher in a new era of space exploration? Perhaps this advancement might eventually see the light of day when humankind populate the Red Planet. [Press Release]
New Prototype Spacesuit Powered By Body Heat original content from Ubergizmo. 
| |
SpaceX has announced the completion of a big milestone for the company, which has successfully wrapped up its first geostationary transfer mission, sending an SES-8 satellite to its intended destination. The mission went off without a hitch, with SpaceX saying the rocket — a Falcon 9 — had a “picture-perfect flight” and that all mission […]
This is site is run by Sascha Endlicher, M.A., during ungodly late night hours. Wanna know more about him? Connect via Social Media by jumping to about.me/sascha.endlicher.
