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Ep. 299: Space Stations, Part 4 — Future Space Station
Sometimes a trilogy needs four parts. We've looked at the history and modern era of space stations but now it's time to peer into the future at some space station concepts still in the works. Most of these will never fly, but the ideas are important. We can't call ourselves a true spacefaring civilization until humans live permanently outside the Earth.
Ep. 298: Space Stations, Part 3 — International Space Station
And now we reach the third part in our trilogy on space stations, with the largest vehicle ever assembled in space: the International Space Station. Launched in 1998, it now consists of 450 metric tonnes of modules, power systems and spacecraft and is regular host to a handful of astronauts from many countries.
Planetary Defense Conference 2013 Part 1
First part of a 3 part wrap up to April's Planetary Defense Conference: a very brief review of the status of research in asteroid threat related fields based on the conference, report on special activities at the conference, and links to video and audio related to the conference.
Ep. 296: Space Stations, Part 1 — Salyut and Skylab
It’s one thing to fly into space, and another thing entirely to live in space. And to understand the stresses and strains this puts on a human body, you’re going to need a space station. In this three-part series, we explore the past, present and future of stations in space, starting with the American Skylab and Russian Salyut stations.
Ep. 295: The Observable Universe
We understand our place in the Universe because of our direct observations. We can see the light that traveled billions of light years across space to reach us. This sphere of space is the observable universe; everything we can detect. But it’s really just a fraction of the larger, unobservable universe. Today, we’ll talk about both.
Ep. 294: The Arecibo Observatory
The mighty Arecibo Radio Observatory is one of the most powerful radio telescopes ever built – it’s certainly the larger single aperture radio telescope on Earth, nestled into a natural sinkhole in Puerto Rico. We’re celebrating the 50th anniversary of the construction of the observatory with a special episode of Astronomy Cast.
Measuring light in the universe since the Big Bang
How much light has been emitted by all galaxies since the cosmos began? After all, almost every photon (particle of light) from ultraviolet to far infrared wavelengths ever radiated by all galaxies that ever existed throughout cosmic history is still speeding through the Universe today. read more
Friday fun: Every moon in the solar system in an homage to Tom Lehrer
A girl named Hope Johnson performing an homage to Tom Lehrer's "The Elements" in song and ukelele, except instead of the elements, she's singing the names of all the named moons in the solar system. Check it out!
Asteroid 1998 QE2, 24 May 2013
Asteroid 1998 QE2, 24 May, 5x120 second exposures stacked in ImageJ and MAX Z-project applied. R filter, iTelescope T9, Animated GIF from the 5 frames I may be wrong in my assessment of the ability of iTelescopes to track Asteroid 1998 QE2 with automated tracking, it might be just a tad too fast at closest approach on May 31. Show More Summary
NASA Administrator Highlights Advanced Propulsion Systems at JPL
Charles Bolden stopped by JPL to highlight research being done on advanced propulsion techniques that would be used in the proposed asteroid retrieval mission.
Scientists identify the mystery killer behind Ireland's potato famine
Scientists have finally figured out exactly what strain of potato blight led to the deaths of more than a million people in Ireland during the Great Famine of the mid-19th century — and it's not the usual suspect.
For decades, researchers assumed that a particular strain o …
Cicada bugfest closes in on the East Coast's cities: How loud will it get?
Hordes of winged cicadas are coming out and turning up the music for their biggest party in 17 years, stretching from North Carolina through Virginia to New York — but experts aren't yet sure just how big the party will get.
Billions of the bugs are climbing out from t …
Statement from the AAS on Proposed Elimination of NASA Science Education & Public Outreach Programs
The American Astronomical Society has issued a strongly worded statement against NASA's proposed elimination of its education and public outreach programs, and I agree with it.
Asteroids – what you can do
Partnering with our friends from The Planetary Society, the Space Generation Advisory Council (SGAC), whose members hail from all over the globe, is bringing you an update on our activities and something you can join in on—at least if you are a student or young professional aged 18–35.
Exploring a hidden population of exotic neutron stars
Magnetars – the dense remains of dead stars that erupt sporadically with bursts of high-energy radiation - are some of the most extreme objects known in the Universe. read more
No NASA Operating Plan Yet
NASA has still not sent its operating plan to Congress. Rumors of the agency reprogramming away all of the additional funding to Planetary Science remains just rumors.
Planetary Society Hangout: Advocacy Update
The Planetary Society just returned from a major political advocacy trip out to D.C. what did we do and what did we achieve? What's going on with the current funding situation regarding Planetary Science and NASA at large? How does the asteroid retrieval mission help or hurt planetary exploration goals? What's the larger plan and what are the consequences if cuts continue?
How radar tracking of asteroids helps us know where they are
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Understanding our Sun's magnetic field
Researchers at the Universities of Leeds and Chicago have uncovered an important mechanism behind the generation of astrophysical magnetic fields such as that of the Sun. read more
ESA opens asteroid crisis center
The ESA (European Space Agency) has inaugurated a new hub that will strengthen Europe’s contribution to the global hunt for asteroids and other hazardous natural objects that may strike Earth. read more
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