Space News With Lots of Pictures.

Lots of astronomy stories have been published in the past week, and I've been rather busy trying to keep track of them all. The best things about these stories, and about astronomy in general, are the pictures. They can tell so much and most of them look beautiful. So, I've rounded up a bunch of the amazing pictures published in the past week or so, and will probably give a short paragraph about them: Lets start with the star that changed the Universe. The Hubble telescope viewed this variable star that actually resides in another galaxy, our neighbor, Andromeda. Before this star was discovered, the fuzzy patches of galaxies were just called...

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Posted in Astronomy,Astrophotography,Gamma Ray Bursts,Hubble,Moons,Saturn,Space News,Space Shuttle,Titan,WISE 21 comments

Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle Infographic

At the end of my Wednesday post about the 50th anniversary of Kennedy's Moon Speech, I had mentioned that NASA had recently announced more information about its next manned spacecraft, the Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle (MPCV). The guys over at Space.com put together an excellent infographic summing up the MPCV and how it compares to other human spaceflight vehicles. I would also say, I erroneously said that the vehicle was being developed with possibly going to Mars in mind. It seems that was only sorta true; the MPCV would be capable of making that journey with modification and additional support. Also, let it be known that I think that the...

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Posted in Infographic,MPCV,NASA,Space Exploration 23 comments

Communication With Spirit Rover Ends

NASA Model of the Spirit Rover on Mars.  In the early hours of May 25, 2011, NASA's Mars Exploration Rover team sent the final command in attempt to reestablish contact with the Spirit rover. The rover hasn't sent a message since March 20, 2010. Since then, over 1,200 commands have been sent and a reply hasn't been heard from the stuck rover. The rover is likely frozen and dust covered, unable to generate enough power from its solar cells to reawaken. It was hoped that the Martian summer would thaw it out, but it doesn't seem to be the case. It is a sad loss for NASA, the plucky rover has been a scientific workhorse on the Martian surface. Spirit...

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Posted in Mars,NASA,Rover,Spirit 39 comments

50 Years Since Kennedy's Moon Speech

[Rather than doing my usual Astro-Lesson, today marks a historic event, although it is still educational.] President Kennedy Addressing Congress. (Source) On May 25, 1961, President John F. Kennedy gave the 'Decision to Go to the Moon' speech before a Joint Session of Congress. It announced the ambitious goal of safely sending and returning an American to the Moon before the end of the decade. Kennedy's decision and timing of announcement was influenced by political factors. At the time the United States felt greatly embarrassed to be losing the space race. In the four years after the Sputnik flew in 1957, the Soviet Union managed to get...

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Posted in America,Apollo,JFK,Moon,Space Exploration,Spaceflight 25 comments

Atlantis on Deck

With Space Shuttle Endeavour in space completing its final missions, the shuttle Atlantis has been moved in to the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) in preparation for the final shuttle mission, STS-135, on July 8 around 11:40 AM EDT. Atlantis rolls over from the Orbiter Processing Facility (OPF-1, at right) processing hanger to the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB, at left) at KSC for the STS-135 mission. Credit: Ken Kremer A wonderful set of photos has been uploaded of this transition. You can really see some of the wear and tear on the shuttle. You also get an impression of the massive scale of things. You can find another set here. The...

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Posted in Atlantis,NASA,Space Shuttle,VAB 27 comments