Flight Day 9

Flight Day 8

Flight Day 6 recap

Flight day 5 recap

Flight Day 4 recap

Flight Day Three

Flight day 2 recap

An Era ends and what will we do now?

Today was a sad day in an Era of Space travel ends. The Last Shuttle launch and into retirement. The United States does not have a space vehicle to replace the shuttle. The Constellation would not be ready until 2015 (but is not funded!)The "Orion Lite" that the current Administration proposes is just a rescue vehicle on the ISS. So NASA is left with the Russian program to transport our Astronauts to and from the ISS. Space X and other private compaines are not ready for Human Flight but are getting there. But when?

And it comes down to what we were doing for 30 years? LEO. Did we explore? Yes, we did explore with probes to the far planets and rovers on Mars. But Man has been stuck in Lower Earth Orbit for a long time. We need to come back with a vision that will lead to a plan of exploring the unknown. Our future depends on it.

Dan Radcliffe sings "Elements!"

Planes may increase snowfall at times

Planes may increase snowfall at times

Some jets and propeller planes flying through certain kinds of clouds can seed ice crystals and create additional snowfall, scientists find.

Final Shuttle Mission Set for July 8th

Spaceflight Now | STS-135 Shuttle Report | NASA formally sets July 8 for final space shuttle launch

Atlantis will deliver a year's worth of provisions to proactively stock the shelves of the International Space Station while NASA awaits commercial firms SpaceX and Orbital Sciences to begin routinely servicing the outpost with resupply missions.

"This flight is incredibly important to space station. The cargo that is coming up on this flight is really mandatory for the space station," Gerstenmaier said.

Minotaur I Launch

A Minotaur rocket roared into orbit from the Virginia coast Wednesday night, successfully deploying a small spacecraft to make the benefits of satellite technology more accessible to deployed U.S. military forces in Afghanistan and other war zones in the Middle East.

From Spaceflightnow here.

Asteroid streaks by earth

From Space.com here.

Iranian test Monkey

I wonder what Alan B Shepard would think?

Iran says it plans to send a monkey into space next month as the next step in a space program that Western leaders worry could also bring major advances in Iran's missile arsenal.
The state-run news agency IRNA quotes the head of Iran's space agency as saying Monday that five monkeys are undergoing tests and one will be selected for the flight on a Kavoshgar-5 — or Explorer-5 — rocket.

Lunar Eclipse 6/15/2011

Gemini 4 46 year Anniversary

NASA- NSSDC link here.

Space Walk page here.

Column: Is Obama grounding JFK's space legacy? - USATODAY.com

Column: Is Obama grounding JFK's space legacy? - USATODAY.com

Damaged shuttle tile to get closer look: NASA

Damaged shuttle tile to get closer look: NASA

Damaged shuttle tile to get closer look: NASA

Damaged shuttle tile to get closer look: NASA

NOAA hurricane outlook indicates an above-normal Atlantic season

NOAA hurricane outlook indicates an above-normal Atlantic season

NLRB Comes to Big Labor's Defense | The Foundry

NLRB Comes to Big Labor's Defense | The Foundry

Western snow pack is well above normal, Squaw Valley sets new all time snow record | Watts Up With That?

Western snow pack is well above normal, Squaw Valley sets new all time snow record | Watts Up With That?

Alan B. Shepard gets a piece of a Moon Rock!

NASA HONORS PIONEER ASTRONAUT ALAN SHEPARD WITH MOON ROCK
Published 04/20/2011 - 9:11 a.m. CST
WASHINGTON -- NASA will posthumously honor Alan B. Shepard Jr., the first American astronaut in space who later walked on the moon, with an Ambassador of Exploration Award for his contributions to the U.S. space program.

Shepard's family members will accept the award on his behalf during a ceremony at 5:30 p.m. EDT on Thursday, April 28, at the U.S. Naval Academy Museum, located at 74 Greenbury Point Road in Annapolis, Md. His family will present the award to the museum for permanent display. NASA's Chief Historian Bill Barry will represent the agency at the event, which will include a video message from NASA Administrator Charles Bolden.

Shepard, a 1945 graduate of the Naval Academy, was one of NASA's original seven Mercury astronauts selected in April 1959. On May 5, 1961, he was launched from Cape Canaveral, Fla., aboard the Freedom 7 spacecraft on a suborbital flight that carried him to an altitude of 116 miles.

Shepard made his second spaceflight as the commander of Apollo 14 from Jan. 31 to Feb. 9, 1971. He was accompanied on the third lunar landing by astronauts Stuart Roosa and Edgar Mitchell. Maneuvering the lunar module "Antares" to a landing in the hilly upland Fra Mauro region of the moon, Shepard and Mitchell deployed and activated a number of scientific instruments and collected almost 100 pounds of lunar samples for return to Earth.

NASA is giving the Ambassador of Exploration Award to the first generation of explorers in the Mercury, Gemini and Apollo space programs for realizing America's goal of going to the moon. The award is a moon rock encased in Lucite, mounted for public display.

The rock is part of the 842 pounds of lunar samples collected during six Apollo missions from 1969 to 1972. The astronauts or family members receiving the award present it to a museum of their choice, where the moon rock is placed on public display.

From Cypress Times here.

First Orbit Trailer

STS-1 4/12/1981

Yuri's Night 4/12/2011

Yuri wiki here

It is the 50th anniversary of Men and Women in space and 30 anniversary of the Space Shuttle in Space. To quote a dear friend who passed away just today, "Space is the place for the new human race!" Rest in Peace JGM!

AccuWeather.com - Weather News | 2011 Atlantic Hurricane Season will be Active, Have more US Landfalls

AccuWeather.com - Weather News | 2011 Atlantic Hurricane Season will be Active, Have more US Landfalls

NASA To Make Last Effort To Communicate With Mars Rover ‘Spirit’ « CBS Los Angeles

NASA To Make Last Effort To Communicate With Mars Rover ‘Spirit’ « CBS Los Angeles

MESSENGER: MErcury Surface, Space ENvironment, GEochemistry, and Ranging

MESSENGER: MErcury Surface, Space ENvironment, GEochemistry, and Ranging

Astronomy Picture of the Day

Astronomy Picture of the Day All discovered stars and planets by Kepler probe.

'Star Trek Live' coming to UCM stage April 1-2 | digitalBURG.com

'Star Trek Live' coming to UCM stage April 1-2 | digitalBURG.com

Comets & Asteroids, Stardust Mission | NASA's Stardust Comet Spacecraft Ends 12-Year Mission | Comet Photos, NASA Stardust Spacecraft | Space.com

Comets & Asteroids, Stardust Mission | NASA's Stardust Comet Spacecraft Ends 12-Year Mission | Comet Photos, NASA Stardust Spacecraft | Space.com

earthhour.pdf (application/pdf Object)

earthhour.pdf (application/pdf Object)

Please remember to leave all your lights on tonight from 8:30 to 9:30 PM. Technology is good! Humans need electricity! Think about washing your clothes by hand.(No washing machine) And then hanging them up to air dry. (No dryer) How about your dinner being cooked on an open fire? (No electric stove/oven) And then drying your left over meat. (no refrigerator) Get the point. Without electricity Humans would go back to the cave man days.

Happy Birthday Spock!

Happy BDay JT Kirk!

Cosmonaut Crashed Into Earth 'Crying In Rage' : Krulwich Wonders… : NPR

Cosmonaut Crashed Into Earth 'Crying In Rage' : Krulwich Wonders… : NPR

Ireland : Image of the Day

Ireland : Image of the Day

The Flame Trench: Work resumes at shuttle launch pad

The Flame Trench: Work resumes at shuttle launch pad: "Kennedy Space Center teams have resumed work at launch pad 39A to prepare Endeavour for an April 19 flight, a day after colleague died ..."

Worker falls to his death at Kennedy Space Center, NASA says - CNN.com

Worker falls to his death at Kennedy Space Center, NASA says - CNN.com

U.S. West Coast in Path of Fallout

U.S. West Coast in Path of Fallout

YouTube - Goodbyes Shared as Shuttle Crew Leaves ISS

YouTube - Goodbyes Shared as Shuttle Crew Leaves ISS

These are the Voyages of the Space Ship Discovery....

Boeing X-37 - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Boeing X-37 - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Here is the wiki on the X-37B.

Atlas V liftoff (full) | Video Library | FLORIDA TODAY

Atlas V liftoff (full) | Video Library | FLORIDA TODAY

Atlas V X-37B OTV Cape launch set for March 4

Atlas V X-37B OTV Cape launch set for March 4

Crop Circles 2010

Science and Politics from The Conservative Dispatch

The issue of Human activity causing Global Warming:

It’s impossible to do experiments to validate that human activity is causing global warming. You can’t experiment on the climate. Instead scientists look at measurements and try and develop models that can predict what’s going on. If scientists could develop models and prove that those models were capable of accurately predicting future climate then that would be an experiment.

If a computer model predicts climate for the next 40 years and after 40 years it turns out to be correct you have good reason to believe that it will accurately predict the climate. Of course we haven’t had time for that sort of validation. Therefore scientists look to see if models can model what happened in the past without essentially building the past results into their model.

Interestingly enough scientists haven’t been able to accurately model the climate in the past or predict the future climate. Climate models didn’t predict the current global cooling phase they’ve now declared is occurring until after it started.

There is a difference between climate and weather but a 10 year cooling period is climate. That none of the models that supposedly show that mankind is causing global warming predicted that 10 year event before it started makes it pretty clear that those models aren’t accurate. Hopefully that will improve but until it does it’s irrelevant if “most” scientists believe that mankind is causing global warming. Just as it would be irrelevant if “most” scientists believed that the Mets were going to win the next World Series.

The Flame Trench: LIFTOFF! DISCOVERY HEADS TO ISS.

The Flame Trench: LIFTOFF! DISCOVERY HEADS TO ISS.: "Space Shuttle Discovery Launch"

Joe Bastardi no longer at Accuweather!

I'm bummed that Joe is no longer at Accuweather! He resigned yesterday and all his videos on Accuweather are gone. Good bye and Good Luck. Hope to hear from you soon!

Story at Watts here.

Spaceflight Now | Atlas Launch Report | Mission Status Center

Spaceflight Now | Atlas Launch Report | Mission Status Center

Friendship 7

Godspeed, John Glenn!

John Glenn orbits the Earth 49 years this day.

Death Valley Mystery stones

NASA / Space Shuttle "and for other purposes" Part 3

NASA / Space Shuttle... "and for other purposes" part 2

NASA / Space Shuttle... "and for other purposes" part 1

Challenger Memorial Ceremony

Challenger 25 years ago

Here is what I posted 5 years ago on the 20th.

Here is the Challenger STS 51L Accident History site by NASA.

The Space Shuttle Challenger Accident page (Davinder Mahal)here.

Apollo 1 Fire 44 years ago

Picture gallery from Space.com here.

There are three parks in the city of Fullerton named after the three Astronauts that died in the fire, Edward H. White II, Virgil I. "Gus" Grissom, and Roger B. Chaffee.

Apollo 1 Memorial site here.

NASA Apollo photo site here.

My post from five years ago here.

My post the same day about Gus Grissom here.

NASA Day of Remembrance

NASA Link here.

The New Atlantis » In Search of a Conservative Space Policy

The New Atlantis » In Search of a Conservative Space Policy

JAXA H2-B Launch

From JAXA Mission site here.

OC Science article on Delta IV Heavy Launch

Here is the OC Science article on the Delta IV Heavy Launch.

Launch seen from OC Register in Santa Ana, CA.

Largest-Ever Rocket, With Secret Payload, Launched On West Coast « CBS Los Angeles

Largest-Ever Rocket, With Secret Payload, Launched On West Coast « CBS Los Angeles

Great report from Ch. 9 News.

USGS records and documents wildlife die offs

From the USGS web site here:

In 2010, the USGS NWHC documented eight die-off events of 1,000 or more birds. The causes: starvation, avian cholera, Newcastle disease and parasites, according to Sleeman. Such records show that, while the causes of death may vary, events like the red-winged blackbird die-off in Beebe, Ark., and the smaller one near Baton Rouge, La., are more common than people may realize.

And Sleeman should know – he directs a staff of scientists whose primary purpose is to investigate the nation's wildlife diseases from avian influenza to plague and white-nose syndrome in bats.

"The USGS NWHC provides information, technical assistance, research, education, and leadership on national and international wildlife health issues," Sleeman added.

(HT from Beyond the Black)

Good article on all the fish and bird kills

Thousands of dead turtle doves rained down on roofs and cars in an Italian town in the latest in a growing spate of mass animal deaths across the globe.

Residents in Faenza described the birds falling to the ground like 'little Christmas balls' with strange blue stains on their beaks.

Initial tests on up to 8,000 of the doves indicated that the blue stain could have been caused by poisoning or hypoxia.

Hypoxia, a lack of oxygen, is known to cause confusion and illness in animals. It is also a common precursor to altitude sickness.

Experts said results from tests on the doves will not be available for at least a week.

They said that cold weather could have caused the birds' deaths as the flock was swept into a high-altitude wind storm before falling to the earth.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1344913/Animal-death-mystery-Two-MILLION-dead-fish-wash-Maryland-bay.html#ixzz1ASRNd0SE

RIP Altaira

Now Ann Francis has passed away. Rest in peace Altaira.

Red Shrit Day!

Paul Calle RIP

NASA Artist Paul Calle passed away today. Here is the lunar landing stamp he did.

Forty years later, what has it meant to you to design the stamp that honored the first lunar landing?

Designing the First Man on the Moon stamp in 1969 was a great honor and especially significant because of my involvement in the NASA Fine Art Program. The design process was kept a secret until not long before the Apollo 11 launch I believe. I had been with the crew during their activities readying for the launch the morning of July 16, 1969, sketching their breakfast and suiting up and knowing that the engraved plates were traveling to the moon with the astronauts was exciting.

I remember when Armstrong stepped foot on the moon, my 8 year old son at the time Chris kept asking, "Where's the stamp? Where's the stamp!?"

From the moon 42 years ago....

1992 Shuttle Craft Ornament

Merry Christmas!

HT National Geographic here.

Apollo 8: First Broadcast from the Moon

Apollo 8 'Genesis' broadcast 1968, extended version

Apollo 8 Launch

Apollo 8 departs to Moon Orbit on this date in 1968

This day in History here.

Lunar Eclipse pictures

Lunar Eclipse/ Winter Solstice

Ht here at gizmoto.

Apollo 17 left the moon 38 years ago today

Dragon Capsule Returns From Space | AVIATION WEEK

Dragon Capsule Returns From Space | AVIATION WEEK

Lesile Nielsen RIP

HT Jeffbots here.

Happy B-Day Climate Gate!

This week marks the one-year anniversary of ‘ClimateGate,’ the release of thousands of damning emails between the most prominent alarmist ‘climate’ scientists, as well as computer code and annotations affirming that the books were being cooked. ClimateGate spelled the end for the global warming agenda in the U.S., at least through the front door of the cap-and-trade energy tax.

Read more: http://dailycaller.com/2010/11/16/on-climategate-anniversary-greens-try-new-science-tack/#ixzz15a8Ovp00

Missile Launch off the coast video

Mysterious Missile launch off LA

Question is whose is it? China or USA? News report here.

From San Diego here.

I'm a Denier!

Tea Party does not buy Global Warming

I guess I'm in the Tea Party. I don't buy Global Warming.

The dumbest criticism the Democrats’ media sheep make of Tea Party members is that Tea Partiers don’t accept the global warming nonsense that most Democrats and their media sheep have fallen for.

Most Tea Party members aren’t climate experts, but they are smart enough to recognize a political con when they see one. In business cons, police warn that if something sounds too good to be true it probably is. In political cons, if something sounds too bad to be true it probably is too bad to be true.

Like most con artists, the people attempting to continue Enron’s global warming scam try to oversell their claims. The global warming scammers are essentially saying that if we don’t stop producing the “evil” gas carbon dioxide God will flood the world like he did in the time of Noah.

Supporters of Enron’s global warming scam falsely claim that carbon dioxide (CO2) possesses some magical power to increase the temperature of the atmosphere by interacting with low energy infrared radiation (IR).

In the 90’s Enron paid scientists and so called environmental groups to claim that an increase in atmospheric CO2 would cause significant temperature changes even though CO2 comprises less than 0.04% of the atmosphere. Enron even wrote the Kyoto Accords for the Clinton administration.

Enron wanted the opportunity to make a fortune by trading what the company called “carbon credits”. Enron had previously made a fortune trading sulfur dioxide credits under a program set up to allow northeastern power plants to continue producing the pollution associated with acid rain.

I wonder why Enron failed. Now I know!

SHAC Jam World Record 3200 Rockets Launched 10.9.10

NEO Incoming!

There is an NEO to pass by Earth at 33,000 miles today here.

Night of the Living Trekkies

Jupiter at Opposition

Tonight Jupiter will be closest to Earth. It has been very bright in the Eastern sky after dusk for months. Uranus is also at its closest but 1' off and unseen from the unaided eye.

 From Space Weather.com

NASA 41 years of covering up Global Warming

The long-trusted formula has been used by climatologists without question – until now. The researchers report that the numbers used in those equations are the “first assumption that climate science makes when predicting the Earth’s temperature.”

The “Stefan-Boltzmann” equation is, apparently, remarkably simplistic and arbitrary, so much so that NASA actually abandoned the use of that equation when preparing for the Apollo Mission in the 1960′s. You read that right; this equation was deemed not good enough for NASA more than forty years ago. And yet it is still the equation upon which climate scientists base their assumptions.

The problem with the equation is that it does not factor in the earth’s crust varying capacity for absorbing heat; instead treating it as a two-dimensional, uniform “black body.”

NASA had found that daytime temperatures on the lunar surface were lower than expected because planetary bodies also conduct heat to their inside rather than radiating it all into space – an empirical fact that challenges the GHG theory. Computer models supporting GHG theory had predicted that such heat energy would be ‘blanketed’ above a planet’s surface.

In fact, the Apollo data proves the Moon’s surface temperatures throughout its two-week night were higher than predicted by the blackbody equations because the moon “feeds on” the heat it had previously absorbed.

Thus the success of NASA’s moon landings becomes evidence against the unreliability of the Stefan- Boltzmann equations in real world science.

Worse, however, than the flaw in the equation, is that this fact has remained covered up by NASA from the first Lunar landing until now, nearly 41 years.

HT Back to Basics here.

Shuttle Astronaut Bill Lenoir Dies

Hurricane Earl as Seen from ISS

Enterprise made of Recyled Ink Cartridges

HT from Inhabitant here.

Space X Drop Test of Dragon

The Dragon Capsule was dropped from 14,000 feet off the Central California Coast. Space-X release here.

AccuWeather.com - Weather Video - Joe Bastardi Channel

AccuWeather.com - Weather Video - Joe Bastardi Channel
Why Hurricanes are low this year. (So far).

WhiteKnightTwo landing gear collapses

WhiteKnightTwo's landing gear collapses on landing.

If there was a gay gene the human race would die out

Here is an article that debunks the gay gene theory. Logical I think. Darwin said those species who where the fittest would survive. Those that are weak die off. If the human genome had gay genes then eventually the species would die out.

Therefore, if an alleged “gay gene” did exist, the homosexual population eventually would disappear altogether. We now know that it is not scientifically accurate to refer to a “gay gene” as the causative agent in homosexuality. The available evidence clearly establishes that no such gene has been identified. Additionally, evidence exists which documents that homosexuals can change their sexual orientation.

Poison Pill: The New Senate Energy Bill

Poison Pill: The New Senate Energy Bill
Hat tip to Ice Cap on the American Thinker article here:

And then there is the section of the Senate bill dedicated to the new federal building code. Originally rolled out in the House's energy plan, the code -- which supersedes all state and local measures and is thoroughly detailed in my book, Climategate -- now has a name: "The Home Star Retrofit Act of 2010." This Act places a hard squeeze on every property owner to spend thousands of dollars in environmental compliance upgrades in a time of economic stringency and falling home prices.

Federal dollars will be paid to those who decrease their energy usage. With the Smart Meters being installed across the country (mandated in the 2005 energy law and capable of recording your energy usage minute by minute), the government will be able to accurately determine your carbon footprint. To entice you to reduce your footprint, rewards of $3,000 will be given for a 25-percent reduction in energy consumption, and $1,000 more for each 5-percent reduction achieved -- up to a maximum of $8,000. A similar plan is proposed for water consumption.

Additionally, federal rebates of up to another $8,000 per home are available for upgrading doors, windows, insulation, roofs, water heaters, air conditioners, etc.

Even with the government kickbacks, if you're still unable to afford all of the upgrades, Section 3015 declares that Fannie Mae will be the official lender to provide you with a "Home Star Efficiency Loan." This means taxpayer sponsored Fannie will be taking on even more debt.

As one who has written extensively about the ideological machinations of the environmental movement and its leaders, I can tell you that this Senate bill is everything they wished could have been packed into the original House proposal.

If the Senate bites on this legislation, an airsickness bag will be required. The bill will go to committee, be conjoined with the massive House plan, and be presented to a lame duck Congress who will ram the bad medicine down our throats.

We need to hound the Senate now. Tell them to keep this poison pill away from their lips.

Brian Sussman is a former television meteorologist and the author of Climategate: a veteran meteorologist exposes the global warming scam. He hosts the morning show on KSFO, 560AM, in San Francisco.

AccuWeather.com - Climate Change | Ice Free Arctic Ocean not much of a CO2 Sink

AccuWeather.com - Climate Change | Ice Free Arctic Ocean not much of a CO2 Sink
Co2 dissolves quickly in cold water and becomes an equal part to the amount in the atmosphere.

New research, just published in the journal Science, and led by a University of Georgia biogeochemist indicates that an ice-free Arctic's future value as a potential carbon dioxide "sink" may be short-lived at best and minor in terms of what the planet will need to avoid future problems.