Orbital skydives to follow inflatable heatshield success? "NASA has announced a successful live test of a prototype inflatable heat shield for re-entry to a planet's atmosphere. The blow-up shield could have important implications for future missions to Mars - and also, perhaps, for the nascent field of orbital spacesuit skydiving."
posted by homunculus on Aug 20, 2009 - 27 comments

Do gravity holes harbour planetary assassins?
posted by Artw on Feb 21, 2009 - 24 comments

"They ran into each other. Nothing has the right of way up there. We don't have an air traffic controller in space. There is no universal way of knowing what's coming in your direction." An unprecedented collision of two orbiting satellites yesterday highlights the increasing threat of space junk.
posted by Chinese Jet Pilot on Feb 11, 2009 - 51 comments

Hurricanes, as seen from orbit. Flying straight into a Hurricane. The list of worldwide Hurricane names. The history of Hurricane names.
posted by clearly on Sep 8, 2008 - 11 comments

Flash Friday Fun! Excellent, physics-based game wherein you control the sun, trying to grab planets and keep them in orbit. Any game that includes the admonition not to "go hyperbola" is OK by me.
posted by MrMoonPie on Aug 15, 2008 - 42 comments

Edinburgh author Iain M. Banks, creator of the post capitalist space faring society The Culture and it's oddly named ships, has long been the UKs top science fiction writer, but has never had more than a toehold in the US (in part through lack of availability, in part due to lack of promotion and in part due to some pretty awful covers. That could change: Matter, his latest, has been heavily promoted in the US and sports a cover nearly identical to the UK edition. This week Orbit are releasing US editions of the two earliest Culture novels, with the third following in July, which could mean a complete release of all the novels in the US in order. [more inside]
posted by Artw on Mar 23, 2008 - 160 comments

The evolution of Mars imaging from orbit: Mariner 4 (1964), Mariner 6 and Mariner 7 (both 1969), Mariner 9 (1971) (all NASA), Mars 5 (1973) (USSR), Viking 1 (1975), Viking 2 (1976), Mars Global Surveyor (1996), Mars Odyssey (2001) (NASA), Mars Express (2003) (ESA), up to this spy-quality shot of an active avalanche taken by NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (2005).
posted by Chinese Jet Pilot on Mar 5, 2008 - 11 comments

In October 1947, the directors of J. Lyons & Co (think - teashops, nippies, bakeries, ice-creams, steakhouses, hotels, Wimpy Bars and Dunkin' Donuts), decided to take an active role in promoting the commercial development of computers. In 1951 the LEO I computer was operational and ran the world's first regular routine office computer job.
posted by tellurian on Oct 1, 2007 - 13 comments

Physics Phun [Phlash, not Phriday]. Orbit is a game where you try to set up, well, orbits. How many levels can you finish?
posted by The Bellman on Nov 7, 2006 - 23 comments

300 Miles High
posted by Blazecock Pileon on Jul 17, 2006 - 18 comments

Suitsat is ready to launch. Know it (wmv). Watch it. Track it. (previously)
posted by pantsrobot on Feb 3, 2006 - 15 comments

A Dutch television producer, who previously brought you Big Brother, now produces a show for British commercial television were you witness the training of three lucky guys to become astronauts and their subsequent launch into earth's orbit for 4 days. They are trained in a Russian facility and are launched with a Russian rocket. There is only one catch: it's all fake. When they leave their orbiter to make a space walk they will be welcomed by their family and friends, and find out they never left England.
If I were one of the contestants I'd go postal after this. But of course these contestants were specially selected to be prone to suggestion, so they will probably just forever hide in corner so they won't hear the constant mockery..
posted by kika on Nov 21, 2005 - 69 comments

Success! Mars Odyssey 2001 is in orbit around Mars.
posted by rosvicl on Oct 24, 2001 - 7 comments

Russia to Mir....come in Mir... Russia's been recently unable to sustain radio contact with Mir. The station itself is empty, but radio communication is necessary in order to control the autopilot. They are supposed to try again in about an hour, but if they are unable to do so within that hour, they'll have to send someone up. I think they're more afraid that it might fall out of orbit before it's planned sinking into the Pacific this coming February.
posted by Cavatica on Dec 26, 2000 - 8 comments