Bay Area Yuri's Night 2007 Bay Area Yuri's Night 2007 Yuri's Night Bay Area will be held at Moffett Field in the
NASA Ames Research Center's massive
SOFIA hangar, home to the world's largest aerial observatory. Our host for the evening is pioneering space traveler
Anousheh Anasari, the first privately funded female to reach orbit. She is joined by
Dr. Chris McKay, world renowned expert in astrobiology and terraformation with the Space Science Division of NASA Ames Research Center, as they welcome you to a dazzling array of interactive art installations and science demos, interwoven with musical and acrobatic performances by some of the world's finest entertainers.
Complete write up. Partially via MeFi's own lannanh.
posted by loquacious
on Apr 6, 2007 -
23 comments
Titan Sea and Lake SuperiorThis movie, comprised of several detailed images taken by Cassini's radar instrument, shows bodies of liquid near Titan's north pole. These images show that many of the features commonly associated with lakes on Earth, such as islands, bays, inlets and channels, are also present on this cold Saturnian moon. They offer strong evidence that larger bodies seen in infrared images are, in fact, seas. These seas are most likely liquid methane and ethane.
Radar Shows Evidence of Seas
posted by y2karl
on Mar 15, 2007 -
31 comments
Rep. Ben Bridges (R-Cleveland, GA) is in trouble. A recent
memo from his office -- one
circulated this week by
Warren Chisum, a ranking member of the Texas state legislature -- has caught the attention of the
Anti-Defamation League.
They are not pleased.
And they're not alone. Why? Because in his memo,
Rep. Bridges --
sponsor of a perennial
anti-evolution education bill in the Georgia State House -- claims that
"so-called ’secular evolution science’ is the Big Bang, 15-billion-year, alternate ‘creation scenario’ of the Pharisee Religion." And that's not all. It would appear that Rep. Bridges is getting his information (and
templates for
his legislation) from
www.fixedearth.com -- a website dedicated not only to the removal of pro-evolution education from schools, but to the idea that "[t]he Earth is not rotating...nor is it going around the sun." Because you see, it's all part of
the Copernican Deception, a massive conspiracy propagated by
Christian Zionists,
NASA and ...
Madonna?
posted by grabbingsand
on Feb 16, 2007 -
116 comments
Hubble's ACS Has Died. Hubble's
Advanced Camera for Surveys has apparently gone into safe mode, with little hope of return. The ACS was installed in 2002, and added amazing upgrades to Hubble's imaging capabilities. Though its lifespan was only projected at five years, scientists had hoped it would hold out longer. Though a final shuttle servicing mission is scheduled for 2008,
the mission objectives plate is already too full to consider its repair. Alas, more of those beautiful pictures (as well as extended research capabilities) will have to wait until the
James Webb Space Telescope is launched in 2013.
posted by Brak
on Jan 29, 2007 -
23 comments
HyperBike! Invented by
Curtis DeForest, this sci fi-looking gizmo has its rider standing up between a pair of cambered eight-foot wheels and pedaling with both arms and legs.
It can "easily" hit 50 mph and it much harder to tip over than a regular bike (and doesn't kill your sperm count, either).
NASA is interested in it for low-gravity environments.
posted by gottabefunky
on Jan 25, 2007 -
54 comments
If you thought the video of Neil Armstrong setting foot on the Moon was rather blurry, it might interest you to know that this was never broadcast as well as it could have been. The original video quality was much better. You can't view the original video today, because NASA has
lost the bleepin tape. Nobody seems to care, but the guys who once made the transmission possible are looking for it. An Australian
minister is on their side. If the tape hasn't been accidentally degaussed, there's only one machine left that is able to read it.
posted by Termite
on Jan 11, 2007 -
19 comments
The Stick and the Stack may be stuck. NASA's
Project Constellation is the effort to rebuild the manned spacecraft program after nearly thirty years of flying the Shuttle. While the mighty
Ares V, the big brother of the pair, seems to be working out on paper, the stick,
Ares 1 is running into
real trouble, as even with a longer first stage booster, it may not be able to loft the new
Orion Crew Vehicle. Now, a group of NASA engineers, with one private person acting as the public face, say that there's a simpler, more
DIRECT way.
posted by eriko
on Dec 19, 2006 -
50 comments
Live coverage of NASA attempting to retract the ISS solar panels NASA is attempting to retract up the huge solar panels that spread out either side of the ISS. They fold up concertina-like, like venetian blinds; and like venetian blinds they're getting snagged and hung up. Live tv feeds of the ISS, and you can hear NASA problem-solving on the fly. Absolutely fascinating stuff.
posted by carter
on Dec 13, 2006 -
22 comments
Bruce Peterson has died. Peterson was one of
NASA's top test pilots for the lifting body program,
a wingless aircraft with which
NASA experimented during the sixties. Peterson retired from research flying after he barely survived a spectacular crash of his
M2-F2--after Peterson recovered from an oscillation in which the aircraft rolled uncontrollably from side to side, he changed course to avoid colliding with a rescue helicopter, but a cross wind shifted him to an unmarked area of the lakebed. Peterson fired his landing rockets for additional lift, but the M2-F2 hit the lakebed at 250 mph before the landing gear was fully down and locked, rolled six times, and
came to rest upside down. Peterson survived, but lost sight in his right eye.
You may not have heard of
Bruce Peterson, but you're probably familiar with his crash of the M2-F2, although Peterson didn't appreciate being the inspiration and backstory for another fictitious NASA pilot who was badly hurt and lost an eye when his experimental aircraft crashed.
Here he is.
posted by fandango_matt
on May 4, 2006 -
17 comments
Religious Nuttery Wins Out over Scientific Fact George Deutsch, a presidential appointee in NASA headquarters, told a Web designer working for the agency to add the word “theory” after every mention of the Big Bang, according to an e-mail message from Mr. Deutsch that another NASA employee forwarded to The Times.
The Big Bang memo came from Mr. Deutsch, a 24-year-old presidential appointee in the press office at NASA headquarters whose résumé says he was an intern in the “war room” of the 2004 Bush-Cheney re-election campaign.
A 2003 journalism graduate of Texas A&M, he was also the public-affairs officer who sought more control over Dr. Hansen’s public statements.
posted by mk1gti
on Feb 5, 2006 -
82 comments
Hyperdrive and a possible Unified Theory. New Scientist article about a paper and proposal to NASA outlining development parameters and possiblities for a faster-than-light anti-gravity propulsion system, based on some rather interesting physics theories originated by a guy named Heim. You mean you've never heard of the Millenium Falcon? (
via)
posted by zoogleplex
on Jan 9, 2006 -
70 comments
This weekend, NASA will order the
Stardust spacecraft to jettison its 100-pound capsule that contains comet dust. The capsule will hurdle through earth’s atmosphere and make a soft landing in the Utah desert. Not directly connected to last summer’s
Deep Impact, Stardust’s mission is to bring comet debris back to earth for study. Here’s hoping we don’t need the
Wildfire lab.
posted by mania
on Jan 9, 2006 -
17 comments
