This Crazy Cosmos

Space Shuttle Endeavour STS-130

Mike — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 05:24:57 +0000

Space Shuttle Endeavour has completed it’s latest mission, STS-130, and has safely landed at the Kennedy Space Center. It’s one of the few remaining shuttle flights left in NASA’s aging fleet of space vehicles.

The International Space Station is 98 percent complete, following NASA’s last big construction project, known as the Tranquility connecting node and cupola. The project added a new room and observation deck to the space station, giving the ISS crew a 360 degree view of earth through it’s seven windows.

Astronauts Bob Behnken and Nicholas Patrick conducted three spacewalks for a total of eighteen hours working outside the space station to install the Tranquility node. There’s only four more shuttle missions, including space shuttle Discovery, scheduled to liftoff in April.

NASA Shuttle Mission Pages

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Space Shuttle Program

Mike — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 05:42:10 +0000

It was February 1st, 2003, when the Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated over Texas during re-entry into the Earth’s atmosphere. All seven crew members aboard STS-107 were tragically lost.

Now seven years later, NASA’s Space Shuttle program is almost over. There’s only five more shuttle flights planned before the space shuttle fleet is retired from service. U.S. astronauts will then have to hitch a ride with the Russian Space Agency, whose Soyuz and Progress spacecraft have been participating in the International Space Station program for years.

President Barack Obama is calling for drastic changes in the U.S. space program, taking the $100 billion NASA planned on using to return astronauts to the moon, and redirecting the money into new rocket technologies.

A logical approach especially since the administration has also extended the life of the space station program. In the face of shrinking budgets, it makes sense to redirect our limited funds into earth orbit technology and the space station, giving the U.S. a space platform to work and launch from. The moon will just have to wait a little longer.

Space shuttle Endeavour is getting ready for takeoff on it’s STS-130 mission to the ISS, with launch countdown beginning February 4th.

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Astrophotography by Anthony Ayiomamitis

Mike — Mon, 11 Jan 2010 08:26:11 +0000

I recently discovered a beautiful site. Astrophotography by Anthony Ayiomamitis www.perseus.gr

It’s got a great collection of celestial objects captured in stunning detail; nebula, galaxies, star clusters, comets, plus images from our solar system. The author also talks in great detail about astrophotography and offers tips and advice for the best imaging.

www.perseus.gr

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International Year of Astronomy ends January 10

Mike — Sat, 09 Jan 2010 05:57:12 +0000

The International Year of Astronomy 2009 (IYA2009) officially ends on January 10th.

The closing ceremony will be held in the Aula Magna of the University of Padova, where Galileo taught astronomy and physics, in Padova, Italy. It’s the final event of a year long global celebration of astronomy and its contribution to society and culture.

Official Website: www.astronomy2009.org/

IYA YouTube Channel: www.youtube.com/user/astronomy2009

Follow Live Streaming Video on www.beyond2009.org

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NASA: Ten Years of Space Exploration

Mike — Sat, 02 Jan 2010 07:00:35 +0000

The past decade has been pretty exciting in the realm of space exploration. Here’s my look at NASA’s milestones in the past ten years.

NASA 2009 Year in Review

October 2009: water discovered on the moon by the LCROSS mission.

July 2009: 40th Anniversary of the Apollo 11 lunar landing

May 2009: Hubble Space Telescope upgraded and repaired. Space walking astronauts from the Atlantis space shuttle gave the aging space telescope several new updated systems. Two new instruments, the Wide Field Camera 3 and Cosmic Origins Spectrograph were installed, while repairs were made to the Advanced Camera for Surveys and Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph systems. Stunning new images start streaming in.

2008: NASA marks 50th Anniversary.
International Space Station (ISS) celebrates 10th year in space.
Phoenix Lander arrives on Mars.

January 2004: Mars Rover mission lands with planetary rovers Spirit and Opportunity. Initially the rovers mission was three months, but both robotic explorers surprised the scientific community by lasting six Earth years on the Martian surface.

February 1, 2003: In memory of the crew of Space Shuttle Columbia, which disintegrated over Texas during re-entry into the Earth’s atmosphere. All seven crew members aboard STS-107 were lost.
Commander: Rick D. Husband, U.S. Air Force colonel and mechanical engineer
Pilot: William C. McCool, U.S. Navy commander
Payload Commander: Michael P. Anderson, U.S. Air Force lieutenant colonel and physicist
Payload Specialist: Ilan Ramon, colonel in the Israeli Air Force and the first Israeli astronaut
Mission Specialist: Kalpana Chawla, aerospace engineer from India on her second space mission
Mission Specialist: David M. Brown, U.S. Navy captain and flight surgeon
Mission Specialist: Laurel Clark, U.S. Navy captain and flight surgeon

October 2000: The first crew, Expedition One inhabits the International Space Station for 136 days.

www.nasa.gov

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Blue Moon

Mike — Sat, 02 Jan 2010 05:25:09 +0000

Did you see the recent “blue moon?” The story was all over the news, but the term “blue moon” is actually misunderstood.

www.skyandtelescope.com/ offers an insightful and in depth definition of a blue moon.

The website for Astronomy Picture of the Day has a striking composite picture of the new year’s blue moon and a partial lunar eclipse.

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White Christmas Eve

Mike — Wed, 30 Dec 2009 01:15:30 +0000

It snowed here in Fort Worth on Christmas Eve. I thought, “that’s perfect timing.” Except for the fact the snowstorm turned into a blizzard farther north and west of us.

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Orionid Meteor Shower 2009

Mike — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 01:29:04 +0000

The Orionid meteor shower has been very active the past few years, and is expected to peak Wednesday morning around 6:00am. Although the best time for viewing can be anywhere from 2:00 to 6:00 am. Astronomers are saying this year’s show could be just as good or better than previous years because of an absence of moonlight.

More info at science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2009/19oct_orionids.htm

Rocky Exoplanet CoRoT-7b Discovered

Mike — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 07:48:41 +0000

Scientists at the European Southern Observatory have announced the discovery of a new exoplanet, CoRoT-7b, which has been described as a “super-earth” like planet.

Details at http://www.eso.org/public/outreach/press-rel/pr-2009/pr-33-09.html

Source: ESO, the European Southern Observatory, www.eso.org/public

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NASA TV Vintage Video

Mike — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 01:28:42 +0000

This video was aired when NASA Television was honored with a Primetime Emmy Award by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences.

The 2009 Philo T. Farnsworth Award recognizes the agency for engineering excellence and commemorates the 40th anniversary of the technological innovations that made possible the first live TV broadcast from the moon by the Apollo 11 crew on July 20, 1969.
(Source YouTube:) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NYyENdNiAPM

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