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Griffin on Global Warming

Via an NPR interview tomorrow here:

Michael Griffin NASA Administrator has told America's National Public Radio that while he has no doubt a trend of global warming exists "I am not sure that it is fair to say that it is a problem we must wrestle with."

In an interview with NPR's Steve Inskeep that will air in Thursday's edition of NPR News' Morning Edition, Administrator Griffin explains: "I guess I would ask which human beings - where and when - are to be accorded the privilege of deciding that this particular climate that we have right here today, right now is the best climate for all other human beings. I think that's a rather arrogant position for people to take."

Atlantis from Space

Flight Engineer Sunita Williams took this photo of the Kennedy Space Center around midday on May 21, 2007. The Space Shuttle Atlantis, scheduled for a launch no earlier than June 8, sits on Pad A (center frame) at launch complex 39. Image credit: NASA

Blue Moon in the Month of May

We will have two full moons in the month of May, from Space.com here.

Thursday, May 31 brings us the second of two full Moons for North Americans this month. Some almanacs and calendars assert that when two full Moons occur within a calendar month, that the second full Moon is called the "Blue Moon."

The full Moon that night will likely look no different than any other full Moon. But the Moon can change color in certain conditions.

Bill Gray on Accuweather

Weather Forecast | Weather Maps | Weather Radar

Do the Cosmonauty

Global Warming Watch

Here's a site called Junkscience You can see the temps haven't really been increasing.

A rare look into the Russian space program

Shuttle back to pad

The shuttle will be moved back to the pad 39b for a launch on or before June 8th. Good luck and Bon Voyage! Roll out started this morning. Pictures of roll out here.

Walter M. Schirra, Jr. RIP

HT from Flame Trench

His Bio is here.

Mercury 8 Mission here.

Mercury-Atlas 8
Spacecraft: SIGMA 7
Mission Date: October 3, 1962
Astronaut: Walter M. Schirra
Flight Summary: 9 hours, 13 minutes, 11 seconds -- Six-orbit engineering test flight.

Charles is to write a book

My father-in-law will be happy. He knew Charles father when he was a professor at the University of Budapest.

Simonyi is the second Hungarian astronaut ever to enter space. Hungarian cosmonaut Bertalan Farkas, who was also at the news conference, spent almost eight days in orbit in 1980.

Simonyi left Hungary as a teenager in 1966, first living in Denmark before moving to the U.S. state of California in 1968. He obtained U.S. citizenship in the 1980s.

"Although I am known as Charles Simonyi, I was born here in Hungary as Simonyi Karoly," he said. "I have never forgotten about Hungary, where I came from; the memories of my mother country are kept deep in my heart."

Jupiter pics from New Horizons

Train derails with Shuttle rockets

Ouch! Hope it doesn't delay any launches.

DEMOPOLIS, Alabama (AP) -- A freight train carrying segments of the solid rocket boosters for the space shuttle derailed Wednesday after a bridge collapsed, authorities said. Six people were reported injured.

NASA spokesman Kyle Herring said the space agency sent teams to check on the whether the equipment, which was on its way to Florida, was damaged.

He said the booster segments was not scheduled for use during the next shuttle flight, set for launch June 8, but for missions in October and December.

The condition of the injured was not immediately released. The cause of the bridge collapse was under investigation.

The Alabama Emergency Management Agency said that none of the cargo spilled. The train landed on its side in a wooded area, and there appeared to be no fire.

The shuttle's twin boosters are 120 feet tall and consist of four propellant segments each.

They are used during liftoff and the first two minutes or so of flight to help the spacecraft break free of Earth's orbit, and are then jettisoned into the sea, after which they are recovered, refurbished and often reused.

As for the effect of the derailment on future missions, Herring said it was too early to tell.