• Sci, Space, Tech Fans: Win a $150 Amazon Electronics Gift Card!

    Updated: 2010-09-07 07:11:00
    Use it for a Free Kindle, Android X Smartphone, Apple iPod or Hundreds of Other Top Brand Electronics Products or Accessories. Volunteers are invited to review and share Daily Galaxy posts you love on Digg, Reddit, and StumbleUpon. Win one...

  • Russian Cargo Droid Departs ISS

    Updated: 2010-09-07 00:55:01
    Tuesday , September 7, 2010 About On Orbit Advertise Here Contact Information Feedback Log Out Home Blogs DesertRATS Features Recent Posts Russian Cargo Droid Departs ISS Submitted by keithcowing on Mon , 09 06 2010 16:55. Space Exploration Filled with trash and discarded items , the unpiloted ISS Progress 38 supply vehicle departs from the International Space Station at 7:22 a.m . EDT on Aug . 31, 2010. Russian flight controllers will conduct thruster tests with the Progress to gather engineering data until it is deorbited and burned up in Earth's atmosphere over the Pacific Ocean . Its departure clears the way for the arrival of the next Russian resupply vehicle , ISS Progress 39, which will launch Sept . 8 and dock Sept . 10, delivering 2.5 tons of food , fuel and supplies for the

  • Gordon Responds to Hubbard et al

    Updated: 2010-09-06 23:34:43
    Home SpaceRef OnOrbit SpaceRef Canada Astrobiology GeneRef Newsletter Sign In This is not a NASA Website . You might learn something . It's YOUR space agency . Get involved . Take it back . Make it work for YOU . Important Disclaimer nasawatch spaceref.com Voice 1.703.787.6567 RSS Feed Twitter Advertising Archives Support Gordon Responds to Hubbard et al By Keith Cowing on September 6, 2010 7:34 PM No Comments Letter From House Science Technology Committee Chair Bart Gordon to Prof . Scott Hubbard Finally , your letter makes no mention of the fact that the bill fully funds the president's budget request for Earth science and aeronautics research . You may be under the mistaken impression that such support can be taken for granted in Congress , but I can assure you that there are no givens

  • What Constitutes Space Leadership?

    Updated: 2010-09-06 22:54:07
    Home SpaceRef OnOrbit SpaceRef Canada Astrobiology GeneRef Newsletter Sign In This is not a NASA Website . You might learn something . It's YOUR space agency . Get involved . Take it back . Make it work for YOU . Important Disclaimer nasawatch spaceref.com Voice 1.703.787.6567 RSS Feed Twitter Advertising Archives Support What Constitutes Space Leadership By Keith Cowing on September 6, 2010 6:54 PM 9 Comments Frank's note : Of all of the recent NASA Administrators Goldin , O'Keefe , Griffin former Marine General Charles F . Bolden , Jr . has given the fewest public appearances of them all . Excluding college commencements and STEM talks to school children , Bolden has been largely AWOL from the public square this summer . The face of NASA leadership , to the public , agency employees and

  • Replace NASA?

    Updated: 2010-09-06 16:08:46
    Home SpaceRef OnOrbit SpaceRef Canada Astrobiology GeneRef Newsletter Sign In This is not a NASA Website . You might learn something . It's YOUR space agency . Get involved . Take it back . Make it work for YOU . Important Disclaimer nasawatch spaceref.com Voice 1.703.787.6567 RSS Feed Twitter Advertising Archives Support Replace NASA By Keith Cowing on September 6, 2010 12:08 PM 7 Comments Dissolve NASA Aviation Week It might have come as too much of an exogenous shock for some at Space 2010, but Bran Ferren certainly fired up the crowd when asked what his first step would be to boost public interest in space and revive U.S . leadership . I'd start by dissolving NASA and then starting again . I'd create the National Exploration Agency searching for life , protecting our nation and

  • BP's Failed Blowout Preventer Heads for NASA

    Updated: 2010-09-05 21:43:07
    Home SpaceRef OnOrbit SpaceRef Canada Astrobiology GeneRef Newsletter Sign In This is not a NASA Website . You might learn something . It's YOUR space agency . Get involved . Take it back . Make it work for YOU . Important Disclaimer nasawatch spaceref.com Voice 1.703.787.6567 RSS Feed Twitter Advertising Archives Support BP's Failed Blowout Preventer Heads for NASA By Keith Cowing on September 5, 2010 5:43 PM 7 Comments BP oil well declared to be no longer a threat to gulf LA Times The latest step in the undersea drama involved removing the old blowout preventer which had failed to stop the gusher . Engineers cleaned out and hoisted the 50-foot , 300-ton blowout preventer to the surface and loaded it on a large vessel Saturday night , Allen said in a statement . Under the supervision of

  • Layoffs Loom Ahead

    Updated: 2010-09-05 21:38:14
    Home SpaceRef OnOrbit SpaceRef Canada Astrobiology GeneRef Newsletter Sign In This is not a NASA Website . You might learn something . It's YOUR space agency . Get involved . Take it back . Make it work for YOU . Important Disclaimer nasawatch spaceref.com Voice 1.703.787.6567 RSS Feed Twitter Advertising Archives Support Layoffs Loom Ahead By Keith Cowing on September 5, 2010 5:38 PM 7 Comments KSC workers refocus as cuts creep closer Florida Today Losing a job is one of life's most stressful events , and on Oct . 1, more than 900 workers will leave KSC for what could be the last time . The overall loss of aerospace jobs as the space shuttle program ends next year is expected to surpass 8,000. A job loss can bring a wide range of emotions , experts said , including hopelessness , anger ,

  • Lori Garver at Space 2010

    Updated: 2010-09-04 19:41:27
    Home SpaceRef OnOrbit SpaceRef Canada Astrobiology GeneRef Newsletter Sign In This is not a NASA Website . You might learn something . It's YOUR space agency . Get involved . Take it back . Make it work for YOU . Important Disclaimer nasawatch spaceref.com Voice 1.703.787.6567 RSS Feed Twitter Advertising Archives Support Lori Garver at Space 2010 By Keith Cowing on September 4, 2010 3:41 PM 16 Comments Prepared Remarks at AIAA Space 2010 By NASA Deputy Administrator Lori Garver We have so many resources that we need to channel for the future of continued success . And you ask what's next . First , I think we're going through some philosophical changes better determining what government can and should do what we as a people can do what is possible , desirable , necessary . There will

  • Putting More Canadians Into Space

    Updated: 2010-09-04 19:05:17
    Home SpaceRef OnOrbit SpaceRef Canada Astrobiology GeneRef Newsletter Sign In This is not a NASA Website . You might learn something . It's YOUR space agency . Get involved . Take it back . Make it work for YOU . Important Disclaimer nasawatch spaceref.com Voice 1.703.787.6567 RSS Feed Twitter Advertising Archives Support Putting More Canadians Into Space By Keith Cowing on September 4, 2010 3:05 PM 3 Comments Canadian Space Agency in Negotiations for Future Launch Access to the Space Station SpaceRef.ca This week's news that veteran Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield was going to be the first Canadian to command the International Space Station while spending six months onboard also meant that Canada has used up its last available contracted launch seat to the International Space Station

  • Organics on Mars

    Updated: 2010-09-04 18:34:35
    Home SpaceRef OnOrbit SpaceRef Canada Astrobiology GeneRef Newsletter Sign In This is not a NASA Website . You might learn something . It's YOUR space agency . Get involved . Take it back . Make it work for YOU . Important Disclaimer nasawatch spaceref.com Voice 1.703.787.6567 RSS Feed Twitter Advertising Archives Support Organics on Mars By Keith Cowing on September 4, 2010 2:34 PM No Comments Mars Phoenix Findings Help Explain Viking Lander Results Experiments prompted by a 2008 surprise from NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander suggest that soil examined by NASA's Viking Mars landers in 1976 may have contained carbon-based chemical building blocks of life . This doesn't say anything about the question of whether or not life has existed on Mars , but it could make a big difference in how we look

  • JAXA's Tether Technologies Rocket Experiment (T-REX) Launched

    Updated: 2010-09-04 08:26:57
    Tuesday , September 7, 2010 About On Orbit Advertise Here Contact Information Feedback Log Out Home Blogs DesertRATS Features Recent Posts JAXA's Tether Technologies Rocket Experiment T-REX Launched Submitted by keithcowing on Sat , 09 04 2010 12:26. Gadgets Blog Space Exploration The sounding rocket S-520-25 was successfully launched at 5:00 a.m . on August 31, 2010 Japan Standard Time , from the Uchinoura Space Center . The vertical angle at the launch was 82.5 degrees . The S-520-25 was designated to conduct basic experiments on the electro-dynamic tether EDT in the ionosphere and to control the attitude of a robot using a tether under the micro-gravity environment while the rocket was making a sub-orbit flight for about 10 minutes to reach its maximum altitude of some 300 . km The

  • NASA Mars Rover Opportunity Studies Interesting Rocks

    Updated: 2010-09-04 08:03:11
    Tuesday , September 7, 2010 About On Orbit Advertise Here Contact Information Feedback Log Out Home Blogs DesertRATS Features Recent Posts NASA Mars Rover Opportunity Studies Interesting Rocks Submitted by keithcowing on Sat , 09 04 2010 12:03. Planetary Science Opportunity Status for sol 2342-2348 : Opportunity finished her campaign to examine an exposed outcrop of rock that was of interest to the science team . On Sol 2342 Aug . 26, 2010 the rover's robotic arm Instrument Deployment Device , IDD collected a single microscopic imager MI image of the target , Laya Beach and a MI mosaic of the target , Cervera Shoal . On the next sol , the moessbauer MB spectrometer was placed on the Cervera Shoal for a multi-sol integration . However , an anomaly was observed with the moessbauer

  • Greg Shaskan

    Updated: 2010-09-03 14:13:36
    Home SpaceRef OnOrbit SpaceRef Canada Astrobiology GeneRef Newsletter Sign In This is not a NASA Website . You might learn something . It's YOUR space agency . Get involved . Take it back . Make it work for YOU . Important Disclaimer nasawatch spaceref.com Voice 1.703.787.6567 RSS Feed Twitter Advertising Archives Support Greg Shaskan By Keith Cowing on September 3, 2010 10:13 AM No Comments Keith's note : The following note was sent by Peggy : Whitson Dear All : I'm sorry to have to inform you that one of our Star City doctors , Dr . Greg Shaskan passed away early this morning , Moscow time . He was currently on rotation at Star City . Greg is survived by his wife , Sharon , and his 10 month old daughter , Francesca . Details are currently worked to return Greg to his family in Chicago .

  • Murals Commemorate Space Shuttle Legacy (Update)

    Updated: 2010-09-03 02:21:11
    Home SpaceRef OnOrbit SpaceRef Canada Astrobiology GeneRef Newsletter Sign In This is not a NASA Website . You might learn something . It's YOUR space agency . Get involved . Take it back . Make it work for YOU . Important Disclaimer nasawatch spaceref.com Voice 1.703.787.6567 RSS Feed Twitter Advertising Archives Support Murals Commemorate Space Shuttle Legacy Update By Keith Cowing on September 2, 2010 10:21 PM 8 Comments Murals Commemorate Space Shuttle Legacy Ken Kremer Huge murals of artwork commemorating three decades of historic explorations and scientific achievements by all five of America's Space Shuttle Orbiters Columbia , Challenger , Discovery , Atlantis , and Endeavour now grace the Shuttle Firing Room inside the Launch Control Center LCC at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in

  • NASA iPad App Ignores Important Solar System Objects and Missions

    Updated: 2010-09-02 18:13:04
    Home SpaceRef OnOrbit SpaceRef Canada Astrobiology GeneRef Newsletter Sign In This is not a NASA Website . You might learn something . It's YOUR space agency . Get involved . Take it back . Make it work for YOU . Important Disclaimer nasawatch spaceref.com Voice 1.703.787.6567 RSS Feed Twitter Advertising Archives Support NASA iPad App Ignores Important Solar System Objects and Missions By Keith Cowing on September 2, 2010 2:13 PM 6 Comments New NASA HD App for iPad With Expanded Content Available Free The app's landing page features the solar system , where users can learn more about our neighborhood , the universe and NASA missions . The app also enables users to experience and search updated , higher resolution NASA Image of the Day and Astronomy Picture of the Day collections and

  • Buzz Says Send English Speakers to Mars

    Updated: 2010-09-02 16:13:47
    Home SpaceRef OnOrbit SpaceRef Canada Astrobiology GeneRef Newsletter Sign In This is not a NASA Website . You might learn something . It's YOUR space agency . Get involved . Take it back . Make it work for YOU . Important Disclaimer nasawatch spaceref.com Voice 1.703.787.6567 RSS Feed Twitter Advertising Archives Support Buzz Says Send English Speakers to Mars By Keith Cowing on September 2, 2010 12:13 PM 20 Comments Buzz Aldrin calls for NZ to help in Mars exploration Stuff.co.nz Moonwalk pioneer Buzz Aldrin says Australia and New Zealand should be part of an international coalition to explore and colonise Mars . International co-operation in space was very difficult and in many ways inefficient , the second man to walk on the moon said . But I think if we can take the English-speaking

  • Making Space Food

    Updated: 2010-09-02 15:41:06
    Home SpaceRef OnOrbit SpaceRef Canada Astrobiology GeneRef Newsletter Sign In This is not a NASA Website . You might learn something . It's YOUR space agency . Get involved . Take it back . Make it work for YOU . Important Disclaimer nasawatch spaceref.com Voice 1.703.787.6567 RSS Feed Twitter Advertising Archives Support Making Space Food By Keith Cowing on September 2, 2010 11:41 AM No Comments TV's Top Chefs' cook up ultimate astronaut takeout space.com Among those who tasted the cosmically inspired dishes during the show were former astronaut Buzz Aldrin , the second man on the moon , and current astronauts Leland Melvin and Sandra Magnus . The Top Chef' cooks received the challenge at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland during a video message from astronauts Timothy T.J .

  • Image of the Day: NASA Space Time-Lapse of Earth

    Updated: 2010-09-02 07:14:00

  • NASA's History Captured In Awesome Photograph Collection

    Updated: 2010-09-02 07:08:00
    As a teaser, we've showcased the Gossamer Penguin, an experimental solar-powered aircraft cruising above a dry lakebed at NASA Dryden's Flight Research Center in July 1979 -one of many strange, woot images of NASA's early days. The images come from...

  • You Create the Caption

    Updated: 2010-09-02 07:06:00

  • From the X Files Dept: Michio Kaku -"UFOs are real"

    Updated: 2010-09-01 07:06:00

  • NASA Glenn tests alternative green rocket engine

    Updated: 2010-08-31 00:00:00
    The non-toxic oxygen and methane propellant combination has the potential for greater engine performance.

  • Continuing Light Blogging to Continue Continuing

    Updated: 2010-08-28 17:07:54
    Hey guys, I know this is pretty lame, but it’s going to be a bit longer before I have anything useful to put up. I do have a pretty cool technology idea I’ve gotten permission to write about, but we’re doing an SBIR proposal on it first. There’s a lot more afoot in [...]

  • Hilarious

    Updated: 2010-08-25 20:30:33
    I know I shouldn’t feed the troll, but Mark Whittington is sometimes amusing.  On his blog, he quoted a commenter to NASAWatch: A commenter named Robert B. has a great answer: Congress doesn’t trust NASA’s administrators to follow the will of Congress. The admins have proven that they will use the letter of the law [...]

  • Silver Lining

    Updated: 2010-07-30 18:05:57
    guest blogger john hare One good thing about the current congress/senate/president funding mess is that we won’t have to listen to as many cranks start their rocket development plan with, “First we convince the president.”

  • Privately Funded Observatories an Analog for Space Exploration?

    Updated: 2010-07-24 18:55:52
    I saw on twitter that Alex MacDonald’s paper on comparing the private funding of astronomical observatories and space exploration is finally up.  It’s a fascinating read.  I met Alex at New Space conference last year, and he showed me some of his research.  His hypothesis is that astronomical observatories were the “space exploration” of the [...]

  • Light Blogging Likely to Continue

    Updated: 2010-07-06 16:23:22
    I really apologize for the light blogging lately. I’ve been under a lot of stress, and unfortunately I’m expecting the light blogging to continue for at least the rest of the month, and probably longer. I’m heading up to Oregon today for a family reunion on Tiff’s side of the family. Her [...]

  • In The News: Japanese Spacecraft Deploys First Ever Solar Sail

    Updated: 2010-06-09 08:00:00
    On the Planetary Society web site: Japanese Spacecraft Deploys First Ever Solar Sail

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