Spring super moon

Cold hearted orb that rules the night, removes the colours from our sight; red is gray and yellow white, but we decide which is right —  Moody Blues

Weekend skies will feature the biggest full moon of the year. It’ll be hanging up there, beautiful and gorgeous, officially starting this Saturday evening: [Read more…]

NASA seeking lower cost ideas for planetary science and exploration

The Martian countryside in the Utopian Plain as seen by Viking. New analysis of the Viking data suggests microbes may be living just beneath the surface. Image 1976 NASA/JPL

Because of recently announced budget targets and a potentially exciting new look at old data, NASA is looking for low cost ways to continue exploring Mars and other parts of the solar system. It’s a shame for our nation and species they have to think this way, but that’s the real world in all its raw glory: [Read more…]

Let me tell you just how bad off our manned space program is right now

SpaceX Dragon spacecraft shown in a hypothetial dock with the ISS. The next test of this system is scheduled for 30 April

That was my opening line at a small talk over the weekend, my warmer upper, it’s not exactly a spine tingler, but it’s the truth. The only manned ground to orbit launch capacity on earth exist in Rsocosmos, the dregs of the Russian manned program. Because of management missteps, congressional malfeasance, a world-wide recession and austerity programs in the few space faring countries left standing, we as a species, ladies and gentlemen, are about one single launch/operational/reentry disaster away from having no manned capability at all, while a luxury free-fall hotel and science station weighing in at almost a million pounds whizzes around empty of science and man until it burns into a briefly spectacular, $100 billion high-altitude fireworks show. Right now much of our hope hinges on this event: [Read more…]

The crazy drama going on back in the USSR and why we are paying for it

According to Russian media, Roscosmos head Vladimir Popovkin was hospitalized for exhaustion. At the same time he checked in with a bandaged head, in itself an unusual symptom for over work, Aleksander Paramonov, Deputy Head of Star City was fingered as possibly being involved in incident that led to the hospital visit. No one’s talking on the record, but word is Popovkin got smacked in the head by a bottle during a drunken brawl over his choice for Roscosmos spokesperson, the nubile 27 year-old former model, uh-huh, shown next to him above. [Read more…]