Hasta La Gadget!

Did NASA find alien life? Well, no, not exactly. Don’t pay any attention those blown out of proportion headlines. Not yet, at least. The space agency is holding a press conference today will, at the very least, explore the possibility,

NASA will hold a news conference at 11 a.m. PST on Thursday, Dec. 2, to discuss an astrobiology finding that will impact the search for evidence of extraterrestrial life. Astrobiology is the study of the origin, evolution, distribution, and future of life in the universe.

What will they be discussing? The speculation at this point is just that–everything from evidence for life on Mars discovered by The Exploration Rover Spirit to the discovery of “a chemical model for life based on something other than oxygen and water,” according to the smart people that Yahoo spoke to.

The Incas and the Aztecs worshiped it. Ancient Europeans erected megaliths to it. Several civilizations based their calendars around it. Until now, however, no one has ever owned the sun.

Back in September, one Angeles Duran of Galicia, Spain took bold steps to change that. Following in the footsteps of an American man who claims to now own the moon, the 49-year-old Salvaterra do Mino resident registered ownership of the life-giving star at a notary public in her area.

The notarized document states that Duran is now the “owner of the Sun, a star of spectral type G2, located in the centre of the solar system, located at an average distance from Earth of about 149,600,000 kilometers.”

Duran plans to charge for use of the sun. She won’t take all of the money herself, though. According to AFP, half of the money will go to Spain’s government, 20 percent will go to the country’s pension fund, 10 percent to research, 10 percent to world hunger. The other 10 she’ll keep for herself. 

A lady’s gotta make a living, after all.

Looks like our grandchildren may get to see the space Shuttle Discovery launch, after all. NASA has pushed the ship’s final mission back yet again. According to the agency, the launch will take place on December 17th–at the earliest.

The cracks in the fuel tank, which have already caused a number of delays may actually be the result of an assembly issue, rather than the design flaw that NASA initially suspected.

“We have an unknown here–how did something get through our process to allow a crack, and do [we] have a susceptibility to have another one of those conditions?” shuttle program manager John Shannon told the press.

The launch will now likely occur some time between December 17th and 20th.

The space shuttle Discovery may be having its share of trouble getting off the ground, but Cape Canaveral had no problems launching what it reported to be the “world’s largest” satellite over the weekend.

The Delta-4 Heavy rocket took off from the Florida air force base on Sunday. While the US National Reconnaissance Office hasn’t actually disclosed the ship’s payload, the rocket is apparently the largest unnamed launch vehicle America has ever spent into space.

The office has also disclosed its not-so-secret purpose–the satellite will be used to intercept enemy communications. The rocket features three core boasters which themselves each include a Rocketdyne-built RS-68 engine.

The Sunday evening liftoff marks the fourth time a giant booster has ever been launch. The first one occurred in 2004.

It’s no secret: I’m a space nerd. A rocket fetishist. I’m not ashamed. At least I don’t wear space underpants when I watch The Right Stuff. Know someone like me? I can help you get them an awesome present. More »