The Space Strider

Terrifying Climate Change Scenarios

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Thu, 25 Jul 2013 16:12:00 +0000

In this video, NASA runs two simulation scenarios are shown what the change in temperature will begin to look like if Carbon Dioxide raise to certain levels. You can see in the video how much change is happening. This could be terrifying for the next generations as they will have to deal with these problems. This isn't to say we don't have some time to figure it out, but in a grand scale, there isn't much time. This could potentially change our way of living irreproachably. There is a good amount of controversy over whether or not this is actually happening but there is solid evidence and the risk seems far to great.

To really see the danger, you need to think about how just a little change in temperature is a pretty big deal. Last summer, a heat wave that killed off most of the grass in our yards and the local farmers were hit pretty hard by it. Many others crops were fine and we survived although wounded. What if this happened every season, around the world. Food shortages would be extreme among many other horrible problems. Nature is extremely delicate in terms of what mankind can do. We also rely entirely upon nature and are just as delicate.

There isn't much we can do to stop it until we find a perfect solution. We however can make tiny changes in our daily routines to prolong the effects. Get energy efficient light bulbs, turn off the lights, invest in properly insulating your home, and plant some trees.

Beware: Very High Solar Activity Inbound

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Thu, 25 Jul 2013 02:12:00 +0000

Our Sun isn't just the peaceful calming think you see and back in on a warm summer day. It has a life all of its own and sometimes that life can be pretty violent. The ocean can have its calm days as well as its hectic choppy wave days and the sun is very similar and works on a cycle of 11 years. Toward the end of this year we will be seeing increased solar activity. After it is over, we will activity drop off to its lowest point over 5 to 6 years called a solar minimum.

During the solar max, the coronal holes on the sun will start to become large and spread from the poles as seen in the picture above. The coronal holes actually occur frequently on the sun and not much is understood about them. Usually we see the holes near the poles but during a solar max, we will begin to see them everywhere around the surface. We do know they contain much less solar material and are much lower temperature than the normal surface.

Why be concerned with a solar max or min? One reason is the satellites that bring us both internet and television. The solar activity could send dangerous solar storms headed toward earth that have the potential to possibly damage our space equipment. The truth is, a solar storm has the opportunity to damage Earth and endanger human lives. The Sun is a very volatile place and holds a great deal of potential for both education and destruction however we rely on it absolutely. Just keep in mind that every 11 years or so, the sun could be out to get you and there is very little that can be done.

We may be advancing to the point where we could have the technology to prevent loss of equipment or life and hide from solar danger. What outlandish solution do you propose to help protect humanity from the dangers of the Sun? Giant Umbrella Sun Shield?

NASA Successfully Test 3D Printed Rocket Parts

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 24 Jul 2013 22:50:00 +0000

NASA's newest endeavors include printing complex rocket parts with a 3D printer. Recent test show the parts rival the previous method's product. Parts were tested at 6000 degrees and were a huge success."We saw no difference in performance of the 3-D printed injectors compared to the traditionally manufactured injectors," claims Sandra Elam Greene, the overseer of the test. "Two separate 3-D printed injectors operated beautifully during all hot-fire tests."

The benefit to these test is that building rocket parts become much cleaner and faster. Complex parts can be built in just one piece of 3D printed materials. This can save the production cost nearly 60%. This is huge for our space program as well as many other applications.

3D Printing has recently made many headlines with people designing weapons that can be printed from home. Of course the printers that NASA is using and what the normal person can use are two different stories but that doesn't mean you can make some pretty neat stuff from home. If you are unfamiliar with the concept of 3D printing then maybe this video can shed some light for the unfamiliar:

Dangers of Space Travel: Not being able to stop!

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sat, 20 Jul 2013 23:09:00 +0000

Not able to slow down in space? Goodbye.....

Why is this so dangerous?

You don't really need much fuel to be able to fly around in space. Really you just need it to reach a speed and to stop the ship. Due to Newtons Laws, the ship can maintain speed without needing to continuously run the engines. The fortunate thing is this makes traveling in space affordable and also possible. We wouldn't be able to conduct space missions while carrying all of that fuel. The unfortunate part of this whole mess is that it does actually require much energy to slow down which brings us to how this can be dangerous.

Whats the big deal?

If you were to say use to much fuel in any operation and didn't have enough to finish slowing down, one of two things could happen. You crash into some entity and die, or you float off endlessly in space and die. If you were going top speed and lost the ability to slow, you would float off to eternity with near 0 chance of rescue. It would require a ship faster than the speed you are going to ever reach you.

Of the two options, which would you rather have and why?

1. You can plumett into some very hard thing, and die instantly.

Rocket crashes for your enjoyment.

2. You could slowly die over the course of you either running out of oxygen (most likely) or supplies such as water.

Comment on your favorite way to run out of power in space!

Excellent Meteor shower: Perseid Coming this August!

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 17 Jul 2013 19:47:00 +0000

These can be seen best in the northern hemisphere but most people will be able to catch a glimpse. Viewing is best in predawn hours. It is coming up and have been know to create quite a show!

Travel INSIDE a Black Hole

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 17 Jul 2013 13:36:00 +0000

This is a great video explaining the effects of a black hole as if you were inside of the black hole itself. Unfortunately the only end to the journey is your death, but if you watch the video, you may see a upside! It depends on how you look at life really.

Here is a summary of the terminology and its meaning:

Schwarzchild Radius: A tiny amount of space that if you were to compress and collaps an object within that radius, it then would become a black hole.

note: This means anything could theoretically become a black hole. The only known natural objects to become black holes are stars.

Gravitational Lensing: Light will be transformed when passing through a black hole giving the onlooker a distorted view of the object.

Photon Sphere: This occurs when light photons begin to orbit a black hole.

Event Horizon: The point where light can not escape the pull of the black hole.

Wormhole: A way to transport instantaneously across space.

Cosmological Principle: Universe expands in such a way where you seemingly are always at the center of the universe upon observation.

Comment: I hope science cant find a way to make objects compress to the Schwarzchild Radius or we may be in trouble.

Merging Super Sized Black Holes

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 16 Jul 2013 17:53:00 +0000

"Distortions in the very fabric of space and time" as Einstein believed. It could possibly ripple outward throughout the universe at the speed of light. Unfortunately no one has found any indirect evidence of this occurring. However this may not the case for long as astronomers have acquired newer and improved equipment that continues to better from recent advances in technology.

A proposed Laser Interferometer Space Antenna could be the tech we need to detect these events. This equipment would be designed for use in space. It continues to be a high priority among the astronomical communities and several groups are looking forward to its completion. Current methods employ the user of computational models to explore the mergers of super sized black holes.

Currency of Space

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Thu, 27 Jun 2013 19:18:00 +0000

Will regular money still work when we begin to build outside of earth. Its believable that someday, we may be able to live elsewhere. We definitely will have to if we are to survive as long as the universe is. Will the US Dollar continue to work across planets or space stations. My guess is we will begin to use a digital currency. Some systems are already in the making.

The two most popular are:

Bitcoins are a currency that are being mined by solving hard problems with extra computing power. There is a finite amount and mining should in about 100 years or so. The faster these things are mined, then the harder they are to receive. The price of bitcoins recently went to 200 US dollars per coin and dropped suddenly. At the time of this post, the price hovers around $100 a coin. A very volatile investment and is open to corruption but still a decentralized form of trade. It is anonymous and avoids fees that banks use so it has become popular with less than legal forms of trade.

Recently, new hardware has come out from butterfly labs that blows the old stuff away. Of course this means the complexity of the problems your hardware is given to solve will become extremely difficult and lower the amount of bitcoins you can get overall. You would almost have to have a large business mining bitcoins to make it profitable for you when these start rolling out full scale(more on this: Jumping in to Bitcoin Mining).

Litecoins are another viable alternative. These are similar to bitcoin and can be mined effectively with the GPU (video card) and processor you probably have already. You can even convert bitcoins and litecoins between each other for another form of currency trade. Which will win or will both succeed and fail? We will have to see.

No specialized hardware has been made specifically for litecoins as they are not as popular as bitcoins. Mining can still be done on a personal level. Like bitcoin there is only a finite amount, so mining faster yields a higher complexity and less coins for everyone. This could change someday and when it does, i would buy the equipment asap and be the first to raise that complexity.

The best part of trading with these digital currencies is that there is still money to be made. Even though they are 100 bucks a coin, you can still buy and sell with small fractions. The market is extremely volatile and experimental but the coins have been holding value. There are many places to trade the coins for services and goods. My favorite is where you exchange bitcoins for gold. You can obviously make more trading on mtgox but if the market begins to fall, trading in for gold may be a good idea fast.

Money that is all digital would be ideal in a space environment. It can be instantly transferred and holds value. If we could trade money in space, a non-physical currency may be necessary. Maybe the US government will jump on board and start making a digital version of the dollar. Time will tell.

Q&A on Black Holes!

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 01 May 2012 06:11:00 +0000

I want to answer 2 main questions I keep seeing my viewers asking. Sure, this blog beats the black hole horse long after its died, but has it ever truly died. We definitely don't know as much as we would like to about black holes. We can only gather so much information from the event horizon we actually see.

Question:
Why can we see a black hole if a black hole cant be seen?

Answer:
We can see them because of something called the event horizon. The event horizon is actually the boundary at which escape velocity is greater than the speed of light. This however, isn't the most true of statements. It is better described as the paths that light could take and all paths in the forward light cones of particles inside horizon become changed and warped so that light is redirected into the black hole. Once a particle is caught inside of the horizon, it is theoretically impossible for it to escape. There is no other option but to be pulled into it further. We can see this which indicates there is a black hole.

Question:
Where does a black hole lead to?

Answer:
We really have no evidence to back anything up however we have theories of something called a white hole. The math has potential of explaining this. In nature, it never seems plausible that something is just gone. We believe it has to be somewhere. The white hole fixes the mysteries by predicting that the particles do expel from a white hole at extraordinary speeds. We may have even witnessed one of these and confused it with a supernova. We believe these will pop in and out of existence, so it is most likely impossible to predict when one may occur.

Question:
If there is a black hole in the Milky Way, why aren't we pulled in?

Answer:
The simple answer is that we are in a spiral galaxy, and we are far enough out in one of the arms that we would not need worry. It takes roughly 200 million years to make one rotation around the super massive black hole at the galactic center of our own Milky Way. I suppose that by the time we even made one rotation around it, humanity would have been gone, whether we died off, or escaped our planet earth and are well spread across the stars. There is however an interesting event predicted to happen as a gas cloud will enter the Black Hole in 2013.

Hubble's Successor: James Webb Space Telescope

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 19:15:00 +0000

Top View of the James Webb Space Telescope

      Although the Hubble Space Telescope has been very near and dear to our hearts, it must be phased out so that newer technology can be utilized. The newer James Webb Space Telescope(JWST) offers many new prospects into the world of Science. JWST's job will be to locate the very first galaxies that were created in the big bang. This will help to relate our galaxy, the Milky Way galaxy, to the Big Bang itself.

       James Webb Space Telescope will be primarily run in the infrared range of the spectrum. Some visible capabilities are available however that is not the missions concentration. It was designed to have a very large mirror that is about 21.3 feet in diameter. The sun shield alone is nearly the size of a tennis court. These things will not fit onto the rocket during launch however they can be folded up until the James Webb Space Telescope reaches space.

         NASA has set the launch date for 2018, but I for one can not wait until I start to see images coming from it. It would be interesting to see the state of galaxies that were first formed. The Hubble Space Telescope had been giving us the best pictures since 1990, and has made history itself. It was the first to ever be worked on by astronauts. There are no maintenance missions planned for the future and we are just using it until it dies off and we launch the James Webb Space Telescope. The Hubble is intended to be running until 2014, which is a 4 year gap until the intended launch of JWST.

SpaceX launch moved back

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 18:38:00 +0000

It is important in this field to have everything exactly the way you want it. Failure is really not an option and so many variables can lead to a failed launch. This flight particular has an extra important reason to look perfect. It is supposedly the future method of commercial space travel which of course depends on this launch. This is why it must be moved from time to time. This time only happens to be a week or so. It has been moved from April 30, 2012 to May 7, 2012.

This launch is more of a precursor to the future transport of human cargo. It is only taking up much needed supplies on this run but the implications of this flight are tremendous. It is the very first privately built and funded spacecraft to make a stop at the International Space Station. SpaceX pushed back the flight and NASA has claimed they are more than willing to wait to ensure the success of such a historic occasion and actually appreciate the fact that they will wait.

It shows trust in a privately owned company (SpaceX)that they aren't trying to force this into success. So many things in the past have gone horribly wrong because a company would not admit to their unpreparedness for an important deadline. In most cases, this would reflect badly on the company, but when it comes to something so important, it can be encouraged.

Imagine if something does go wrong with this flight. No one will ever want to buy tickets to their possible demise and SpaceX could be ruined. It will never leave peoples minds that the first time we actually used this thing, it blew up. This could send commercial space travel back several years until we could convince the public to try it again. I suspect that hundreds upon hundreds of public cargo runs would need to be done before i would ever set foot on one.

Nevertheless, it still remains important that we expand the possibilities of extending our reach. We don't want to be restricted to only sending 6 or so guys somewhere every few months or longer. So much more research could be done with groups of 50 or more. Every step is a step in the right direction no matter what happens.

We look forward to the success of this launch! Good Luck SpaceX!

Awesome Stuff NASA Gave Us

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 24 Apr 2012 16:19:00 +0000

NASA HQ in the 60s located in Texas. A Historical Landmark

I was browsing the NASA website when I found a few interesting things about what NASA has given us over the years. You would be absolutely surprised by the random inventions that affect our daily lives. I would like to give a few some light.

Shock Absorbent Foams were developed by NASA to help prevent bad effects of g-force on their astronauts. They needed something to take the shape of impressed objects and then return their original shape. This material goes into the making of fighter jets, furniture, beds, shoes, and sports equipment. This was obviously an invention that helps us in our daily lives exponentially.

I have to say that there is a field of NASA inventions that I cant live without. Truthfully, you and your grandchildren might struggle a bit too. Its called a water filter and they didn't invent just one. In the 1970s they designed a Microbial Check Valve to determine if the water their astronauts are drinking is safe. That invention paved the way for everything else. We can know drink safe water in areas where chemical contamination has occurred with large water treatment plants. NASA was even able to develop a way to turn our human waste into drinkable water. This may sound gross to you now, but as the population explodes, this could become the most important invention ever made. NASA could be credited with making a world where your grandchildren can exist.

The moral of the story is that NASA needs to continue on their path with as much funding we can spare. They develop things that are absolutely essential to human expansion. We need to think more about cutting cost in places other than education and research.

What do you need to know to buy a telescope?

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Fri, 20 Apr 2012 18:07:00 +0000

Thinking about buying a telescope? Well that can be pretty intimidating especially for a first time buyer. Once you find what you want, it can be most rewarding. It is an excellent fun cheap family activity that can lead you to a strong passion for the science. It can start your children on a path to being an engineer or physicist. Why not get started right? Well we have what you need!

You will need a map to the stars and not the kind you get from a guy off of a Nevada street. You need a map to see where different stars are. It isn’t essential but will be invaluable when looking for something specific. Imagine wanting to look for city street on a globe, because that’s what you will find. Space is massive and having that star atlas will come in handy!

Obviously you going to want that telescope. Telescopes are extremely specialized scientific equipment. It works by taking light that you may not be able to see, and focuses it in a way that you can see an image in far greater detail. Time to buy your first scientific instrument will begin your trip into the science of astronomy.

Where do you find one? Well to be honest, your best bet is the internet (I am not trying to sell you telescopes, don’t worry). You can find the best savings through the internet. We recommend a budget of around $200 to $300, The best ones to look for while starting off are Meade, Orion, and Celestron telescopes. Telescopes tend to last for years and years, so it is more of an investment.

Using a notebook is definitely a good idea. You can draw what you see and reference the same spot later. You can records places you’ve seen and observe the changes in Jupiter and Saturn!

Just remember to have fun and learn. It can offer hours of entertainment as well as be an excellent hobby for the kids!

30 Doradus and the Hubbles 22nd Anniversary

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Fri, 20 Apr 2012 00:19:00 +0000

For the Hubbles 22^nd anniversary, NASA and the Space Telescope Science Institute released one of the largest mosaics ever built from the photos of the Hubble telescope. The picture is to give the attention to a breeding ground located in 30 Doradus which is a area where stars are born. This is commonly called a Star Forming Complex.

30 Doradus is the brightest of all the star forming regions in our galaxies neighboring regions. It is actually located within the center of the Tarantula nebula. The nebula is somewhere in the range of 170000 light years away and is a small satellite galaxy of the milky way. We don’t know of any star forming regions in our galaxy that can even compete with 30 Doradus.

Luckily, this nebula is close enough to see individual stars. This allows us to gain sufficient amounts of data. This particular system manages to form stars extremely quickly over millions of years in comparison to others. In fact, this is one of the only star forming regions that we can even study well enough. It is invaluable to our knowledge of the universe as well as learning the evolution of stars. Thank you for the wonderful photograph!

Amateur Astronomers: NASA wants YOU!

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Thu, 19 Apr 2012 18:05:00 +0000

NASA artist rendition of OSIRIS-REx

There is a brand new project where NASA has called for amateur astronomers to help with discovering near-Earth objects(NEO). They need help studying the characteristics of asteroids that may occasionally find themselves a bit too close to Earth.
As of April 18, 2012, NASA has started a project entitled "Target Asteroids!" that will help support the satellite called OSIRIS-REx (Origins Spectral Interpretation Resource Identification Security - Regolith Explore) to improve our understanding of the asteroids or NEOs. OSIRIS-REx will be launched in 2016 set on course to meet with an asteroid (1999 RQ36) in 2019.It will take a bunch of measurements and telescope observations. In 2023, OSIRIS-REx will return back to Earth having collected 60 grams or 2.11 ounces of surface material from 1999 RQ36.
In 2014, the project will open its doors to participants, including both students and teachers.

NASA Earth Day Contest will Award FREE Launch Tickets!

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 18 Apr 2012 20:59:00 +0000

Wouldn’t you like to have tickets to a free launch? I know I would, which is why we are very happy to hear there is a contest for Earth Day 2012 that NASA is hosting! You need to create an original way of viewing the Earth. NASA has been taking photos of the Earth for years from space. We can see how the Earth is changing both naturally and unnaturally. We can predict the outcomes of our global actions and learn more on early warnings for natural disasters. This is why for the 2^nd year in a row, NASA will be looking for the best submission.

The best part of it all is that the best submission will be awarded with a behind the scenes look at the next launching of a NASA Earth observing satellite. That launch is set for January 2013 by an Atlas V rocket. What better way to support Earth day by handing out tickets to see the thing that helps us save the earth do its job.

Tips for winning would be to keep the submission short. You don’t really want to go to long because it may become boring and drawn out. This would be considered more of a commercial for Earth in light of Earth Day. Try for 1 to 2 minutes or even less. Make sure to use photos and imagery that NASA has gathered over the year. Just remember to be creative and have fun. Represent our Earth well on Earth Day 2012 and possibly earn some free launch tickets!

Star Wars on Earth? Betelgeuse gone SuperNova?

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 18 Apr 2012 16:08:00 +0000

       There is a strong possibility we may be able to get a vision like Luke Skywalker had on the planet of Tatooine. When he looked up at his uncles farm, you could see that he lived in a Binary Star System. A Binary Star System is actually having two suns in your solar system. How could we have two suns? Well, technically we wont, however it may look like that for a couple of weeks.
       We know that the star located as the left shoulder of Orion, named Betelgeuse, is about to blow. It has reached the end of its long long life and when that happens, a star has one of two options. It can go out nice and peacefully, or go supernova taking everything around it with it. We believe that Betelgeuse will be taking its system with it as it becomes a supernova. When that happens, although we are 640 light years away, we will see it. In fact, we will see it in the day. This may slightly resemble having 2 suns, resembling the famous scene of "A New Hope".
       There is a chance that our ancestors had seen this before. We have documented reports of being able to see a bright star in the daytime from a bit under 1000 years ago. The Chinese from that time period left records of what we can tell is a supernova. We have detected isotopes in Antarctica that support what we believe the effects of a Super Nova might be on planet earth.
       Can a Supernova hurt us? Most of the time no, however there is a type of supernova that arises from white dwarfs that may cause damage to the biosphere. It is believed to have happened long ago and caused a mass extinction in oceanic life. The effects of these will cause the ozone to be converted into something less protective allowing harmful radiation to reach the Earth's surface. This will most likely be unpredictable.

      There have been many suggested reports that the Betelgeuse star will be noticed this year(2012) but that claim lacks evidence. We do know that it will occur, but its exact time is unknown. It could be soon, or maybe it will be many more years. I'm sure those lucky enough to witness it will be enthralled. Seeing a star so bright it can be seen in the day time would be absolutely incredible. Just keep your eyes on Orion and maybe you'll be the first to witness a once and a lifetime supernova as we say goodbye to many peoples favortie star, Betelgeuse.

The Dragon is Ready for Launch!

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 18 Apr 2012 04:59:00 +0000

A company known as SpaceX has built a spacecraft and rocket to carry supplies and people up to the International Space Station. This is significant due to the fact that never before have we been this close to starting a private space travel industry. This upcoming trip scheduled for April 30th, 2012 and will only be carrying cargo this time. The cargo is only going to be supplies for the astronauts and future customers.

Falcon 9 1st Demo Launch

The spacecraft is named Dragon and has only ever seen one test launch so this cargo transport is mostly a test. 1200 pounds of material will be transported to the International Space Station (ISS) and the craft will return to Earth. If this test is successful then the Dragon will be making regular runs to the ISS. The test are extremely nerve wrecking as launching something over 17,000 mph at a target that is very small can be an extremely difficult task.

The Dragon is actually propelled by a rocket which was also built by SpaceX. The Falcon 9 rocket has seen 2 previous launches and is also very new. In December 2011, the Falcon 9's second launch, which included the Dragon spacecraft for its first time, it made history as being the first ever launch of a privately built and operated spacecraft to to be launched to Earths orbit and then also recovered.

NASA's Interest in Commercial Space Travel

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 18 Apr 2012 03:34:00 +0000

Atlas 5

More and more you hear about spaceflight taking off year after year. Someone always has some mission planned to go into space with civilians and not astronauts and scientist. There are entrepreneurs out there with the sole intention of taking the space market by storm. Businessmen always want the next big thing and I don’t know of a more interesting vacation then spending a little while in space. Just the fact that its soon becoming a reality that we can begin to capitalize spaceflight.

The big names such as Boeing have been relentlessly trying to cut the cost of their Atlas 5 rockets to prevent being overrun by start up companies with newer more efficient ideas. One such man by the name of Elon Musk claims he is developing new ideas to take the industry by storm with cheaper and far more efficient means. It seems like having some new minds on the subject besides just the normal would be beneficial to our research in space.

The whole idea behind this is NASA. They feel like if they can get the ball rolling, they can lower the cost of getting their stuff and crew to the International Space Station or ISS. In fact they have spent an awful lot of US taxpayer money on it. There is a strong possibility that this will work if you think about it. If companies start competing for the cheaper prices, it could allow NASA to use their equipment for things that are new to science. If taxpayers had the ability to rent a shuttle rather than buy one, they could spend much more of their money on newer research. Why spend so much when there already going there and you just have to buy the space.

International Space Station

It all seems like an excellent idea, but there is a strong possibility it wont work out. Unfortunately I would hate to see all of that money go to a dead end. There are so many more things out there that can be learned with that cash. Although the risk is great, the reward would save so much more money for years to come. We all know eventually were going into space on a more frequent basis so we might as well give our country a kick start on an international industry!

Rare Opportunity to See the Space Shuttle!

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 16 Apr 2012 15:48:00 +0000

Tomorrow on Tuesday April 17th, 2012, between 10 and 11 am EDT, the space shuttle discovery will be en route from the Kennedy Space Center to where it will now reside at the National Air and Space Museum. It will be transported by a 747 Jetliner sitting right on top. What a sight!

NASA has provided us with locations at which ist will be possible to see the space shuttle! If you live near or around the District of Columbia, you can see the shuttle at the National Mall, including Memorial Bridge, The Lincoln Memorial, and the Washington Monument. Also near the District of Columbia, you will be able to see it at the Southwest Waterfront Park. If you live near Virgina, then you may be able to see it at the Long Bridge Park, Old Town Alexandria Waterfront, and Gravelly Point. Finally, if you live near Maryland, then you might sport the shuttle at the National Harbor.

The exact times are entirely dependent upon the weather tomorrow morning, however it would be worth a few minutes wait to see this historic event. Thank you so much space shuttle Discovery for your years of service to this country and to science as well. The plane should be around the altitude of 1500 feet.

The Space Shuttle Discovery in action!:

Moonbuggy 2012 Winners!

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 16 Apr 2012 15:18:00 +0000

What an eventful race! The results are in and here are the winners! The engineering students competed in the 19th annual Moonbuggy race at tje U.S. Space & Rocket Center in Huntsville, Al. The winners of the High School division are the team from Petra Mercado High School in Humacao, Puerto Rico. The victors from the University of Alabama in Huntsville took the win in the college division! Congrats Teams!

Here is the college divisions winning buggy:

Here are the High School winners and their moonbuggy:

747 Shuttle Carrier Aircraft

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 16 Apr 2012 01:25:00 +0000

To get a shuttle from place to place can be pretty intense. The NASA team has special equipment for this job. They have modified two 747 jetliners to provide transport for their shuttles. Where passengers would sit, there is nothing. Everything had to be designed specifically house the shuttle which sits directly on top. These entered commercial service in 1969.

The things that make these shuttle so special can be listed and are not so much different from the ones you fly in to see grandma on the holidays:

There are 3 struts which provide extra support from the interior to help hold the shuttle.
There are 2 additional vertical stabilizers which enhance directional stability
Removal of all interior furnishing and equipment forward of the No.1 door.
Extra Instrumentation to help monitor the electrical loads during the entire journey.

These sound like they are extra technological and awesome however I wouldn't look forward to flying in one. No AC or anything of that nature would make for an annoying ride!

These are generally used to get the shuttle to places it needs to go where ground travel just seems unfeasible.

Black Hole in the Milky Way?

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sun, 15 Apr 2012 01:58:00 +0000

The moon is pulled by the earth and that is pulled by the sun but whats the sun pulled by? Well its pulled by a black hole sucking us in constantly. Why aren't we sucked in? The way gravity works its unlikely that we will be soon. It is more likely the sun will die before we ever get in there.

In fact, just as a star has a life zone, or area in which life could survive, the galaxy has one as well. Pretty interesting to know that everyone of these has hundreds of stars, which have a bunch of planets, which have earthlike qualities. The chances of us finding more of great value are great.

A picture of the center of the milky way galaxy from nasa.

Just a Thought:
however scary it may be.

There are so many scary thoughts when we think of the universe as a whole. Every morning we wake up and go about our day without a thought in the world thsat there will ever be a huge disaster that will cause an entire planet to die. Unfortunately however possible it is, we are getting to the point to prevent huge disasters like that.

This makes it ever more important to make sure as humanity learns about the universe, we must start looking for a new place to stay. Our population has exploded since the black plague and industrial revolution. Our resources are quickly depleting. Cities are even running into water problems. Water is the most important part of life. If we start running out of that, then there could be even bigger problems then the oil crisis.

Who knows, we could even find a planet that has a large amount of gold which is a rare metal that always increases in value because of how important it is. There can only be benefits from extending outside of our planet and colonize.

It would make us safer. It would make the human population more wealthy. We could actually start trying to restore our planet once we get alot of the population to a better place. Of course this is all a long way off but we need to start the ball rolling as soon as possible!

The Moonbuggy Race 2012

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Fri, 13 Apr 2012 19:57:00 +0000

Today starts the 2012 moonbuggy race in which over 500 high school college and university students from 20 different states will be facing off against over moonbuggys. Student start working on their moonbuggy in the fall semester every year to prepare for the event. The pilots must be in teams of 1 male and 1 female. "The annual NASA Great Moonbuggy Race is a unique and exciting way to get high school and college students involved in hands-on robotic design and operation," said Leland Melvin. It last until tomorrow.Awards are given to the three teams in 2 separate age divisions that post the fastest race times among other factors.

The whole thing can be watched at the NASA website!

Good Luck Guys and Gals!!!

When Black Holes Collide!

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 11 Apr 2012 23:08:00 +0000

So we know that galaxies can collide in the universe and even our own is destined for collision, but what happens to those incredible black holes in the middle. Does one suck up the other? Actually according to the University of Texas, Austin, and E.W. Bonning, from Yale University, they create a powerful and messy recoil. The recoil could be seen a couple of tops spinning in opposite directions smacking into each other. One is sent off into nothingness and the other receives an enormous amount of energy which agitates the gas and debris around it. The result is an enormous x-ray flare that can last thousands of years!

Researchers believe that there could be around 100 collisions within 5 billion light-years of Earth. We detect this from the energy given from the result lasting in space. This is an extremely rare event however the effects are long lasting.

A photo visualizing a collision from NASA