Science off the Sphere: Knitting Needle Experiment (by ReelNASA)
I love this kind of stuff. A simple experiment- water droplets released from a syringe close to a knitting needle - may sound yawn inducing at first glance. But when an astronaut is showing you this experiment from the International Space Station, it becomes fascinating. If only we could get the Mythbusters to do a show out in space.
Source: youtube.com
From wired.com:
1969: The Soviet Union was first to land a spacecraft on the moon, in 1959, but NASA’s Neil Armstrong becomes the first human to set foot on the lunar surface, realizing humanity’s age-old dream. And effectively winning the space race for the United States.
Armstrong and fellow astronaut Buzz Aldrin left the Apollo 11 command module (piloted by Michael Collins) in orbit and performed a landing in the lunar module Eagle. At 4:18 p.m. EDT, Armstrong announced to a watching and waiting world that “The Eagle has landed.”
Six-and-a-half hours later, he stepped onto the powdery surface with the words, “That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.” Aldrin soon followed Armstrong down the ladder to become the second man to stand on the moon.
Source: http%3A%2F%2Fdigg.com%2Fd31XOrZ
Stunning Saturn Photos
Photo: NASA/JPL/SSI
A magnificent selection of photos from the Cassini mission has been published on the site of the Boston Globe:
nearly a year into its extended mission, called Cassini Equinox (after
its initial 4-year mission ended in June, 2008). The spacecraft
continues to operate in good health, returning amazing images of
Saturn, its ring system and moons, and providing new information and
science on a regular basis. The mission’s name, “Equinox” comes from
the upcoming Saturnian equinox in August, 2009, when its equator (and
rings) will point directly toward the Sun. The Equinox mission runs
through September of 2010, with the possibility of further extensions
beyond that. Collected here are 24 more intriguing images from our
ringed neighbor.”
Via Pop!Tech
From the Moon to the Earth
A freshly restored image of the first photo ever taken of the Earth from the Moon. The photo was taken by NASA’s Lunar Orbiter 1 in 1966.
Feeling Quite Small
Photo: nasa.gov
This is one hell of a view (click photo to enlarge).
Mars Phoenix Is Very Web 2.0
Photo taken from the Mars Lander on 31 May 2008, showing a possible ice patch.
You may have heard about a little project called the Mars Phoenix Mission, but did you know our dear friend Mars Lander has a Twitter account? No, this doesn’t mean NASA managed to stuff a tiny, underpaid blogger in the lander to keep us updated on this very exciting project, but it’s great to see a big government space agency being in tune with the times.
Space Weekend
Well it certainly is an exciting time for space junkies. After NASA finally stuck its Phoenix landing on Mars, closer to home a thrill seeking Frenchman by the name of Michel Fournier is prepping himself for “Le Grand Saut” (The Great Leap). Fournier will jump out of a helium balloon at 40,000 meters, hurtle down towards Earth at speeds of nearly 1,000mph (1609km/h), all while praying to sweet Jesus he remembered to pack his oxygen tanks this morning.
Article in the New York Times
Pimp Your Ride With NASA Leftovers
Next time you’re in Los Angeles and you see one of those low rider cars jerking up, down and side to side, just think that all that silly boppin’ is probably powered by hydraulics leftover from NASA’s space glory days. The world gets stranger every day.
Thanks to Dave Bullock for the photos.
Link: North Hollywood junkyard: one giant heap for mankind - Los Angeles Times.
Mounds of titanium and steel glinted in the afternoon sun, valves and pipes protruding in all directions like half-formed metal organisms.
In one corner of the warehouse was a twin of the Apollo command module engine that brought Buzz Aldrin and Neil Armstrong back from the surface of the moon nearly 40 years ago. Nearby was the second-stage motor for a Saturn V, the most powerful rocket ever used in the U.S. space program.
Jonathan Goff, a 26-year-old rocket engineer, climbed atop a mound of
titanium spheres once used to store highly explosive liquid oxygen
rocket fuel and scanned the area for used rocket parts. “This is
definitely a cool place,” he said.
For almost five decades, Norton Sales Inc. in North Hollywood has been
collecting the nuts, bolts and heat exchangers from the rockets that
helped American astronauts shrug off the steely embrace of gravity.
