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| | | :: Monday, June 30, 2003 :: |
Fun Copter
This one is mostly for Nicole, who is still addicted to the cow-flinging game I posted a while back.
Japanimatrix
OK, American geeks are suddenly less impressive by comparison (it took me several tries to access this site, so if it doesn't work for you at first, be patient.
Farewell, Kate
The death of Katherine Hepburn marks the end of my dream, sparked by Kate Mulgrew playing Hepburn in a one-woman stage show, that someday that would be turned around and Hepburn would play a really, really old Janeway in a Voyager TV movie, that would therefore actually be good.
Space Walk Of Fame
A space museum in Titusville, FL needs help and has started a petition hoping not to get kicked out of its mall home by the mall's new management. I'm signer 119.
Today In History
The crew of Soyuz 11 died during re-entry on this date in 1971.
Daily Hatbag
Ladies and gentlemen, it's Odo!
You Down With OSP?
More criticism of the Orbital Space Plane. Congress says NASA needs a way to end its reliance on the Shuttle. They say NASA needs to be able to have more people on Station. NASA comes back to them with a vehicle that does all that. Congress says they don't understand why NASA needs this vehicle. Huh? And while it would be great fun to go to Mars, designing a craft with the capability to both do that and ferry astronauts up and down to the Station would be ridiculously impractical. As much as I would love to see a Mars craft also, it would still have to be a seperate vehicle. And even if NASA had a mandate (read: funding) to start working on a Mars mission right now, the agency would still need OSP to continue the mission of the Space Station. And I'm not sure about the criticism that the OSP is no good because NASA will run behind deadline with it. Um, how exactly would switching to a more complicated vehicle help? And, yeah, there's all that development work on the X-33. The only problem with the X-33 was, it didn't work. And wasn't going to be finished any earlier than OSP, if ever.
Under A Yellow Sun
NASA will be studying an Indian man who gets his power from Earth's yellow Sun, apparently in hopes of teaching astronauts to do this.
T -2 days
The launch of the Mars Rover "Opportunity" was scrubbed this weekend and has been delayed until Wednesday. The first launch window that day is at 10:37 p.m. CDT, and another follows 42 minutes later.
| | | :: Friday, June 27, 2003 :: |
No Bass
According to Alan Boyle's Cosmic Log, Space Adventures' short list of upcoming space tourists does not feature any celebrities, including James Cameron or Lance Bass, both of whom have expressed an interest in spaceflight. Bass' manager says the Mississippi native is still interested in flying. “We know he will, just not sure of the time. No plans at this time.”
CAIB Update
The CAIB has issued a third preliminary recommendation for NASA: Develop on-orbit inspection and repair capabilities for the Shuttle.
O'Keefe has reportedly said he's expecting the final report to be "really ugly," but that the agency will exceed the CAIB's recommendations.
Daily Hatbag
Sometimes you feel like you need a vacation.
New Lu
Ed Lu has posted the latest in his Greetings, Earthlings series, this one about how cool it is to watch the Earth from space.
Helios Lost
NASA 's prototype Helios solar-powered aircraft was destroyed in a crash yesterday. The cause is still undetermined. Just watch the agency needs right now. To some extent, this is exactly what experimental aircraft are created for, but somehow I doubt that will be universally appreciated.
NASAexplores has done two stories about Helios, one about two and a half years ago and the other on Nicole's birthday last year.
al-Sahaf Update
More details on the Iraqi Information Minister.
| | | :: Thursday, June 26, 2003 :: |
Same Day, Different Station
OK, so it may not seem as cool to some as Mindi interviewing Ed Lu on Station, but I just got to talk to Dr. Joe Kerwin, a member of the first crew of Skylab. Very, very cool. He was extremely nice and very helpful. I called him to get information about a pair of NASAexplores articles, one about SAFER, the new EVA jetpack that he helped design, the other, natch, about Skylab. We're doing a story later this summer about the 30th anniversary of Skylab (which is basically May through February), tying it in also to ISS as a successor to that project. However, I ran into an interesting situation when I asked him what his impressions, as a member of the Skylab crew, are of ISS. He had little kind to say about the current Station, arguing that it is too big, and that something smaller would have been a more effective resource, since it would require less expense, operational manpower, fuel, etc.
Foreign Science Concepts
The ESA has just added a new Science Section to its Web portal. Kind of cool.
Fallout
Christian Science Monitor has an interesting article about how the loss of Columbia has affected the residents of the Texas towns where debris fell.
The Canada Six
X Prize contender Canadian Arrow will today announce six astronaut candidates for its upcoming manned suborbital spaceflight. A total of four of them will fly in the X Prize flights.
On a related note, I learned something I thought was kind of cool. Another X Prize contender, Interorbital Systems, has chosen as its astronaut for its planned flight Wally Funk, who was one of the Mercury 13 female astronaut candidates in the early '60s.
The New Best Comic Ever
This fall, coming to a comic book store near you will be all-new adventures in the world of--oh yes--Tron. The first release will come out shortly after the Tron 2.0 computer game (scheduled for an August release) and will be set in that time period, following the adventures of Alan Bradley's son. That mini-series will be followed in spring by a second series, set in the original Tron universe.
Something PC People Got Right
The NASA homepage, www.NASA.gov, was named the Site Of The Week by PC Magazine.
Daily Hatbag
The thing that made Hatbag great was its ability to excel in any genre. Take, for instance, this science-fiction strip. The combination of otherworldly elements with real-world commentary is the hallmark of all of the greatest science fiction, from The Day The Earth Stood Still to Invasion Of The Body Snatchers to Rollerball.
This Week At NE
This week at NASAexplores, we have a profile of Gene Cernan, the last man to walk on the Moon, and the next part in our series on constellations. Check it out.
NE TV
NASAexplores staff member Mindi Capp will be interviewing ISS Science Officer Ed Lu today from 10:30 a.m. CDT until 10:50, in NE's first on-orbit interview. The interview can be watched on NASA TV, or on the internet (the link is on the right side of the page below the fold).
| | | :: Wednesday, June 25, 2003 :: |
Get Rich Quick
What's keeping Alan Shepard's Moon golf ball from being on eBay? Currently, just the fact that it's a little hard to get to. But an effort is underway to change that.
Pumpkin Shirt
I don't get this strip, but it definitely rips off Lain. If you look at the top of your browser window, it's even named Pumpkin Shirt. Not to mention that it's a computer-generated strip, meaning that it steals from both Pumpkin Shirt and Hatbag. He'll be finding out just how good lawsuits do taste!
First Flight
Once again, I've received an e-mail in the Liftoff guestbook about the fact that the Wright Brothers did not make the first powered flight. There are reports that there was someone else in the U.S. who made a flight first, but did not document or reproduce it like the Wright Brothers did, and thus his accomplishment was lost. Which may or may not be true. But this is not who I get e-mails about. The one I get e-mails about, and this just puzzles me, is Albert Santos-Dumont, of Brazil, considered the Father of Aviation by other people in Brazil. What fascinates me about this is that nobody claims he flew before the Wright Brothers in 1903. His first flight is universally agreed to have occurred in 1906. So... um... huh? None of the e-mails I have received address this particular discrepency.
Could It Be True?!
MohammedSaeed al-Sahaf ...captured?
T -3 Days
The launch of the second Mars rover, Opportunity, has been scheduled for 10:56 p.m. CDT Saturday.
CAIB Update
In a move that comes as a surprise to people who don't read the Daveblog, Columbia Accident Invenstigation Board head Adm. Harold Gehman has announced that he sees no reason that NASA will not be able to resume Shuttle flights on the early-next-year schedule the agency has been discussing (the December date has not been ruled out by the agency, but there are only two says with launch windows that month, so even if Atlantis is ready, it would be difficult to make that schedule). Those relatively quick return-to-flight preparations will likely be followed by extensive ongoing changes in the agency and Shuttle program, however. The CAIB has also said officially that it believes the foam impact is the most probable cause of the loss of Columbia.
Daily Hatbag
There was some discussion during the Hatbag days as to whether Hippie actually used drugs or just talked big, but this strip certainly indicates he does.
Back In The City
The latest issue of the greatest comic book of all time, Astro City, hits stands today.
Bye-bye, Dead Princess Di
So it turns out Princess Di will be the newest addition to the X-Men universe.
And this article responds to that one.
16 Days
As previously mentioned, the Discovery Channel will be showing its new documentary, 16 Days, about Columbia's final mission, tonight at 9 p.m. CDT, preceded by a new feature on the physics of re-entry at 8 p.m.
| | | :: Tuesday, June 24, 2003 :: |
Erm...
I posted this yesterday with one of the links missing, and no one, not even Lain, who was referenced in the second part, mentioned it to me... Here's the corrected part...
Wonder If This Was How Vader Did This...
OK, so this idea in Mark Pett's Lucky Cow strip Sunday would probably suck in real life, but it's cool in concept. And this one is like a little slice of Lain and Dave life, but different.
We Lovesssss It
Ah, those wacky Russians!
Good News, Richie
All you really need in life is this site and a Barnes & Noble. And really, you don't even need to go to the store, you can use the internet for that, too.
Rev. Two
My friends, we've come home.
Poll Position
Last week's poll results: If Superman is just going to fight one baddie in his next film, it's going to be Luthor (who received four votes), assuming the next film is made by the Daveblog readership, which could only be a good thing. If Luthor is in a supervillian team-up, his partner would be either Braniac, Zod, or polar bears (each of which received two votes), or some combination thereof. One person wanted to see Superman fight Batman (which is interesting, considering that this has provided some of the greatest comic book battles of all time). And, BTW, I didn't vote this time. Whoops. A grand total of zero people wanted to see Superman fight Doomsday. And, apparently, Superman wouldn't make any money if he saved the world from Solomon Grundy.
For the new poll, I borrowed slightly from Rebecca's blog. Sorry.
Two Years Ago At NE
We don't byline our stories at NASAexplores, since they are all the creation of NASA, but let me just point out that I did NOT write this lead.
Everybody To The Limit!
Homestar Runner and Strong Bad were declared "It" in a recent Entertainment Weekly. If you've missed out on the magic, read this Wired article, and then go to Homestarrunner.com immediately. Start with the Strong Bad e-mails. Great stuff.
RIP
Wernher von Braun's brother, Magnus von Braun, died last week in Phoenix, Arizona. He was one of two Peenemunde immigrants to die last week, along with von Braun team member Rudolf Hoelker.
Rosie Future For Robots
Robots as space janitors? Could be...
Daily Hatbag
I've run this one before, I think, but it kind of captured the mood here at You Must Fight The Bear... I've gotten better at minimizing the effect of major failures, but had to spend a good bit of time since yesterday afternoon fixing things I broke on the Daveblog while trying to make improvements. But the results are worth it, at least to me-- better archives, new blog links, and, of course, new bears.
Hubble-Hubble
The Hubble Space Telescope may get a 5-year reprieve.
It's Tuesday...
...So new DVDs and CDs are coming out. I'll be buying the Cowboy Bebop movie DVD, but that's probably not a universal taste of Daveblog readers. Of more general interest might be the new, controversial Liz Phair album, also released today (although not available on iTMS). It's not a new release today, but while I'm linking, I'll mention that Dave guilty-pleasure read Douglas Coupland has a new novel out recently, Hey Nostradomus! (There will be a huge announcement [kinda] related to this post soon, but I'm not ready to make it yet. I would say it'll change the way you think about Davebloggin', but it's actually more of a paradigm shift than that. Now I've way overhyped it! That's the mark of a good Web creation!)
New Low
This blog has sunk to a new low: Celebrity Rumors! Kevin Smith is apparently losing all that weight using the Atkins diet... so now you know!
| | | :: Monday, June 23, 2003 :: |
Why Marshall Is Cooler Than Where You Work, Reason No. 342
One day DeeDee's fiance was driving around at Marshall, when he found himself behind a truck carrying cows (for those who haven't been here, there are cowfields on the Arsenal to the north of MSFC proper). On the back of the truck, carrying cows, were three bright triangles. One of the triangles read "Hazardous." The second triangle said "Flammable." And the third triangle read "Radioactive."
WWDC Keynote
12:10: Safari 1.0 released.
12:13: Panther will feature new Finder--"User centric" rather than "Computer centric." Organized more like iTunes or iPhoto (or like old Apple menu, it sounds like). Jobs: "I think we finally got there on the Finder"
12:19: New iDisk stuff, if you're one of those folks paying for DotMac, which you're not.
12:20: Expose: Creates essentially thumbnails of all windows you've got open in all applications. Very cool. Will also show you windows in just any given application. How do you do it: Assign key, assign screen corner "Or if you have a two-button mouse, you can assign the right button of your mouse" If you think we're using two-button mice (and we are), Steve, why don't you make us some? Expose'll also clear all windows and let you see the desktop.
12:26: FileVault locks your Home directory so people can't access sensitive stuff if Laptop is stolen.
12:26: "We've really improved Mail for Panther" Faster, can be organized by thread, addresses are objects for better in-app management.
12:29: Panther has built-in fax capability-- fax button shows up anywhere print button does
12:30: Pixlet (requested by Pixar)--first time studio-grade resolution available on home computer. Use half hi-def for super video playback on G4.
12:35: Preview in Panther is the fastest PDF reader in the world.
12:40: Fast-User Switching--only feature in OS X that Windows beat Apple to, but Apple is (natch) doing it much better (and, of course, prettier).
12:41: Font Book--Pro font management, if you're into that sort of thing.
12:42: iChat--"I've saved the best for last" Now iChat AV--in addition to text chatting, adds audio chatting and/or video chatting-- "It's videoconferencing for the rest of us"--access from buddy list. (This is great--now I'm going to have to buy software AND hardware. Curse you, Steve Jobs!) For those of you not watching at home--Steve just started a video chat with a friend in Paris, so that we could see the Eiffel Tower.
12:52: Steve just received an incoming iChat call from Al Gore. Al--"Seriously, this thing is very cool. This is going to be a great, great thing."
12:54: Free iChat AV preview downloadable today for Jaguar and Panther--expires Dec. 31. Mac to Mac only now--"But as others copy what we do" will incorporate others.
12:56: Panther will ship by end of year, sell for $129.
12:57: iSight--new Apple hardware--video/audio camera to accompany iChat AV (see earlier comments about cursing Steve Jobs). Mounts on top of screen for best angle. Costs $149. Available today (developers at conference get free--long ovation--not fair).
1:02: Xcode--new developer tool for OS X. "We like to be number one"
1:14: G5--It's true--"The fastest personal computer in the world"
1:16: "This thing is a floating-point monster" (Much like a rogue singularity, or a zero-dimensional supervillian)
1:18: They're built entirely by robots--"There are no humans around" (That's just asking for trouble).
1:19: "What a great day for Apple, a great day for IBM" Boy--15 years ago you never would have thought you'd hear that sentence.
1:27: First view of new G5--OK-looking, but not as revolutionary as Steve would like to believe.
1:31: Went to Dell Web site, best PC money can buy not as fast and over $1,000 more expensive than G5.
1:55: Before you rush out and buy your G5, Baker, Steve says within a year they'll have dual 3GHz G5s.
2:05: The End--Steve goes over everything Apple's announced this year--TiBooks, Safari, iPods, iTunes Music Store, Keynote, Panther, G5, iSight, etc., etc., etc. "And the year's only half over"
For Richie
I'm out of NASA Web site searches, but here's a question sent to the Liftoff Web site:
"I want to ask if the high is important to become an astronaut?"
Addendum: And here are some recent search terms for Hatbag.net, ranked by popularity--"STS-114; Collins Eileen" "naked nintendo" "star wars kid terminator" "Diana Loevy" "hippie facts" "lucky cow comic" "pope joke" "space shuttle stoody balls" "CLinton hippie" "COLONEL REB PICTURES"
Addendum: Dear NASA, Why is Mercury the closest planet to the sun and not pluto."
Memories
Ever have one of those experiences where you go back and watch a movie for the first time in quite a while, and are surprised that something you thought you remembered wasn't in it? I watched Space Cowboys (some people call it Maurice, because it speaks of the pompatous of love) last night, and was surprised that it didn't have a scene that I would have sworn I remembered where the bad guy gets his come-uppance at the end. That said, it was also interesting going back and watching the movie now with a better perspective on what was right and wrong with it (several things very wrong, a couple more right than I had realized).
Wonder If This Was How Vader Did This...
OK, so this idea in Mark Pett's Lucky Cow strip Sunday would probably suck in real life, but it's cool in concept. And this one is like a little slice of Lain and Dave life, but different.
Things That Bug Me
No. 243--When people who should know better misuse the term "killer app" (most commonly to describe a great piece of software).
MS Mac
Here's an interesting article about the current state of the Apple-Microsoft relationship, and Apple software development in general.
Mao Speed, John Glenn
Florida Today has an article with highlights of a talk by John Glenn, including passing remarks about China's space program, and what doesn't happen to your eyes in orbit.
Free Blog
Once again, it's the official "Jason Smith Honorary Free Blog Section." If there's something you want to discuss on the blog that I haven't posted about, put it in feedback here and we'll see what we can do.
Extra-galactic Cow
Tour the galaxy with a cow in this game at HubbleSite.org. More challenging versions exist for those who need them.
Progress Report
ISS Science Officer Ed Lu has posted the fourth in his "Greetings, Earthlings" series of letters from the Station. The most recent installment, slightly more technical than some of the earlier ones, talks about the Russian Progress supply ship, and later gives instructions on making space bruschetta.
Sour Grapes
Virgin Atlantic airline has upped its offer to buy five Concordes, otherwise soon to be mothballed.
Daily Hatbag
As a Baptist, I feel that Hippie and the Black Guy should be liberated.
Happy Mac Day
Steve Jobs' WWDC Keynote address will start today at noon CDT. I have yet to find info on a Web cast, but here's a list of sites that will post updates during the keynote (one of my co-workers plans to stream it, but fat lot of good that does you).
Unmasked
The History Channel is airing its documentary "Comic Book Superheroes Unmasked" tonight. THe announcement I just read said 9 p.m., but I don't know of that's CDT, so check local listing for showtimes. Um, if you care.
Two Towers, Four Discs
DVDfile has info on the four-disc Two Towers special edition which will be released on Nov. 18.
| | | :: Saturday, June 21, 2003 :: |
Daily Hatbag
I know we've done this one not that long ago, but I want to dedicate it today to Col. Reb.
Blown Hatch
After Sen. Orrin Hatch's comments about wanting to destroy people's computers, this is just too sweet.
| | | :: Friday, June 20, 2003 :: |
Hutts Keep Falling From Space
In the classic Star Wars children's books series that included such titles as "Mission From Mount Yoda" and "The Glove Of Darth Vader," Trioculus, who claims to be the son of Emperor Palpatine dumps evil gangster Zorba The Hutt (known anywhere by his trademark laugh--"Ahawhawhawhawhaw") into the Sarlacc pit from his spaceship over Tatooine. I'm not 100 percent sure this was done from orbit, but for the sake of this post, we're assuming it was. This article explains why the plan would not really have worked (and also why astronauts couldn't drop bowling balls from space).
The Richie Series, Part VII
Things sought on NASA Web sites
--Teaching NASA a few things
--technical designes, electronics, layauts, ingeniering
--tenth planet info
--terraforming, howto, latest, recomended courses
--that thing
--The information I need to poop.
--THE POSSIBLE FUTURE
--the women of NASA (which is a perfectly acceptable search, except that it sounds like a Playboy pictorial)
--Things for Youth
--tie tack
--to have a look of future and trying to see the world as better as i can for new ideas
--trying to find out whether NASA is responsible for its own publications
--turistic ones
--Underground Railroad
--Want to see the ferret dance!!!!!
--wat do you do in a Roket
--webcams to show my kids. To actually be able to bring space and antartica home for my kids to see.
--What are space makers?
--What does atmosphere and surface look like up close and personal.
--what happend too the engyn
--what is the most important eating utensil? (This will be the poll next week)
--Why there are people homossexual
--women
Col. Reb Update
One of my friends sent an e-mail with his thoughts about the Col. Reb situation, which I'm republishing here without his permission:
It's official, ladies and germs: by order of AD Boone, Colonel Reb will no longer be a part of Ole Miss football. He MAY be allowed to wander the Grove before games, although the issue of "after" is still tentatively negative as well. He simultaneously announced search to come up with a new mascot to "better represent the traditions of Ole Miss Rebel football."
Wha-HUH?!
Uh...it's right there in the name, jack---: "rebels."
Of course, it's now only a matter of time until we officially become the world's stupidest focus-group team, the "Ole Miss Express"...that gets used now on the Jumbotron. I thought that was my MEAL CARD, a-hole.
This, on the heels of discovering that the tag team of Khayat & Staton had paid some city folk up in...NEW YORK CITY?!...to come up with ideas for scrapping our vestiges of the past. I got one: our Provost is outdated, an unfortunate link to the evils of the past. Let's revamp HER a--.
Carolyn Staton's home number available upon request.
Movie Net
An interesting article about the way the internet has affected movie-making. That said, I knew Batman Forever was horrible without any help from Harry Knowles.
When Mars?
When I just read the teaser, I was prepared to bash this article about the difficulties of going to Mars, since it was from Popular Science, which missed the mark on the Hulk/Terminator fight yesterday. It turns out, however, that it's a James Oberg article, and pretty well written. I'm not saying I agree with 100 percent of it, but it's a pretty decent overview. I think he's right that an earlier mission to Mars would have proved catastrophic, but I think he makes some of the challenges bigger than they are.
Technical Difficulties
Oh no, SOHO!
(Here's the status as of yesterday.)
The Rationalizing Officially Begins Today
There have been rumors that Apple will announce the G5 during the WWDC convention next week, but the fact that this was posted on the Apple store briefly early this morning seems to confirm it. Not a bad little machine, from the looks of it.
BTW
By the way, yesterday marked four months of Davebloggin'.
Daily Hatbag
I think I've done this one before, but what better strip for a day when I link to something about Monkey Pox!!!
Good Work If You Can Get It
Man, I would so take a job that involved yelling, "MONKEY POX!!!"
| | | :: Thursday, June 19, 2003 :: |
Um... Gee
I just finished Christopher Buckley's lastest novel, "No Way To Treat A First Lady," published late last year. In the back, as is the wont of some humor writers, he includes in his bio a mix of actual facts and outlandish faux accomplishments. Take, for example, this sentence: "He is also credited with bringing about lasting peace in the Middle East, and with alerting NASA to significant problems with its Space Shuttle Automatic Re-entry Guidance System [SSARGS], thereby sparing several square blocks of Raleigh, North Carolina, a very unpleasant surprise."
Eeee...
The Richie Series, Part VI
More things people looked for on NASA education sites:
--planets of the apes
--poo poo
--poop poop poop poop poop poop poop poop poop poop poop poop poop poop poop
--reliable, with no flaws. And I found no flaws
--slavery drinking gourd
--some finasial assment ,i am from india
--some thing
--something with magnetic prepaltion (dum)
--Space farming ("Space ... wheat, space ... corn")
--space hygiene but it won't copy to microsoft word
--Star Trek, fact or fantasy?
--STUDY IN THIS FIELD AFTER BEING GRADUATE
--Stuff about Pluto for a school investigation also you need better pictures on pluto they are fuzzy
--successful American women - where is Sandra Day O'Connor?
Linus And Lu ... See?
I just watched ISS Science Officer Ed Lu play the Peanuts theme on a keyboard in orbit. He plays pretty well, too. Kinda cool.
Return To Flight Update
NASA is going to announce soon that it will return to flight in April. Or possibly December. Or sometime in between. According to reliable reports. Basically, the date is supposed to be announced officially within about six weeks, apparently, which is to say, shortly after the CAIB report is released. At this point, the CAIB is in the process of weaving its findings into its final report, so most of the immediate issues have basically already been identified. The CAIB has been working with NASA during the process, so the agency has a pretty good idea what those issues are going to be. It sounds like the December launch is less likely, but first quarter '04 is sounding pretty reasonable. A big consideration will likely be whether it's decided to have the mission be a crew-exchange flight. On a side note, according to the Spaceflight Now article, the agency is even starting to back away from the no-more-night-launches rule that was proposed.
Being to be...
MacNN found a Japanese site that told how to run Mac System 7.5.3, and linked to a Babelfish translation of the page, which I imagine would help greatly.
Daily Hatbag
I was trying to find something computer/blog related, but was too lazy to come up with anything better than this.
Welcome To The Blog Collective! Resistance Is Futile
Joe now has his own blog, named "Idle Ramblings," interestingly enough. This is a little name I stole from Joe, and now he's stealing it back. Unlike my blog, Joe has decided to have actual content on his, so I was relieved to see he wasn't cutting into my lucrative steal-material-from-NASAwatch-and-Dave-Barry niche. Check it out.
His wife, Rebecca, also has her own blog, what would gilligan do?, but since she's too good for posting on the Dave blog, I'm not going to promote it at all.
And for those who prefer more minimalism in their blogs, there's still Yoda's Mud Hut.
This Week At NE
This week at NASAexplores, we have a story about the Summer Solstice, which it Saturday, and about astronaut Janet Kavandi (whom I didn't get to talk to, but is still cool anyway).
Get Your Own Material, Popular Science
Lest anyone doubt who the true pop culture elite are, go back a couple of days to the feedback for the Alien vs. Predator post, and note that Lain proposed this very fight! Popular Science and CNN are stealing ideas from the Dave blog! How cool is that?
Lain, who sent me this article, notes that their logic is somewhat flawed, since it assumes a direct one-on-one physical battle. All Skynet would have to do is send a Terminator back in time when they knew Banner wasn't the Hulk (or before the Gamma bomb), and it's all over.
| | | :: Wednesday, June 18, 2003 :: |
Colonel Reb, RIP
OK, this kind of ticks me off. Joe just sent me an article saying that Ole Miss has ditched Colonel Reb as its mascot. There has been talk (as reported earlier on this blog) of trying to find a replacement, but the University is not even doing that. Ole Miss will simply have no mascot for football season, and will continue with no mascot until a new one is found. The article states that there are no plans to change the names "Ole Miss" or "Rebels," meaning that theoritically Ole Miss could end up with a team called the Rebels with something else entirely as its mascot (hey, if it works for Alabama and Auburn, right?--and I guess theoretically they could just get a different "Rebel" as a mascot... possibly James Dean or Princess Leia). I'm ticked off, and not really sure what to do about it. I've already paid my alumni dues for this year, so I can't refuse to do that.
For some interesting reading, check out this Daily Mississippian article from just 9 days ago.
Why
Jocasta sent me this: WHY EXPLORE SPACE? By Dr. Ernst Stuhlinger.
The Richie Series, Part V
More things to look for on NASA education sites:
--jupiter phemus
--Lesson plans that might be useful
--lots of your girl pics
--LPs
--MANY INFORMATIONS
--Name of a shuttle in 1991
--NASA is like a dictionary, looking for a specifict ..., usually lends itself to further exploration.
--none of your business
--NOTHING I HATE THIS SITE AND PLANET EARTH CLASS!!!!!
--nothing momentarily
--nuidity
--ONE PHOTO
--overall info re: how nasa organized and what they are excited about - less boring old white guy pix
--overall quiz on every thing there is to know about the universe like: cosmology, astrophysics,...
--Photos of planets to put into my six year old daughter's luch pack for school.
--Picthers of space
--pictures of alaska and people
--pictures of primary consumer
Refrigerator Full Of Hot Dogs
I wonder when the last time Refrigerator Perry was in the news prior to this, and how famous you have to be at your peak in order for this to still be national news over a decade later. And how many hot dogs I could eat in 12 minutes. Hey, it would be OK on my diet.
Killer Safari
Apple responds to the IE cancellation, and Microsoft agrees.
Daily Hatbag
I got back a signed copy of Gene Kranz' Failure Is Not An Option in the mail yesterday.
Computers, Down The Hatch
Lain sent me this article about Sen. Orrin Hatch's plan to destroy computers. I'm just an ignorant layman, but to me, this is a phenomenal lawsuit just waiting to happen. There are too many legal and quasi-legal uses of sharing technology for me to believe that nobody would get their computer destroyed wrongfully. Perhaps as a practice run, Hatch could wander parking lots with a sledge hammer beating the crap out of anybody's car that has one of those Calvin stickers. Not only would that serve as a good test of the legal ramifications, but I would pay good money for a video of it.
Space Bass II?
Space Tourism is back... or will be in the next couple of years. OK, so maybe that's not big news. More interesting, though, possibly, is that it's a more serious endeavor this time. Past space tourists Dennis Tito and Mark Shuttleworth (and would-be tourist Lance Bass) simply filled an available third seat on planned Soyuz replacement missions to ISS, allowing the Russians to make a little money off an already-planned mission. Now, U.S.-based Space Adventures, RSC Engergia, and the RSA have announced plans for a purely commercial flight to ISS. One of the Soyuz's three seats will, of course, be taken by the cosmonaut commander, but the other two will both be filled by paying customers, who would then get to spend a week aboard station. Space Adventures says it has a roster of 10 people currently preparing for spaceflight. The story notes that RSA has not yet brought the plan before NASA or other ISS partners. While the plan will likely be approved, since it helps fund Russia's beleaguered space efforts, I can't imagine NASA will be happy about the prospect of TWO tourists on ISS at the same time.
I Loved This Spacecraft As A Boy
The ESA's Automated Transfer Vehicle has successfully passed its Critical Design Review, clearing the way for the construction of the first ATV, Jules Verne, to be assembled for a September 2004 flight. The unmanned craft will take on some of the Space Station supply duties currently filled by the Russian Progress craft.
What's Up, Relatively Speaking?
Have a question for the crew of the Space Station? Spaceflight Now will be conducting a live interview with the Expedition 7 crew on Tuesday, June 24, and is giving readers a chance to submit questions (Permalink unavailable, mail link is on site homepage). This blog will be passing on the opportunity, since Mindi Capp of the NASAexplores team has an interview with ISS Science Officer Ed Lu two days later. We've had the honor of interviewing several astronauts at NE, but this will be the first time any of us have actually talked to an astronaut IN SPACE. Kind of cool.
| | | :: Tuesday, June 17, 2003 :: |
Interstate Stripping
In accordance with Lain's suggestion in feedback that we make a Huntsville to Oxford Hatbag to steal the biggest comic strip record, I got together with some of NASA's Moon hoax landing people, and we got it done. So here you go, Lain.
Taking Care Of NASA Business
OK, I just came across the coolest NASA contract I've seen thus far. Analex Corporation has a contract with NASA to provide Expendable Launch Vehicle Integrated Services. That's right, the ELVIS contract. I'm jealous.
Giant Cow
So imagine a Lucky Cow comic strip (not this one in particular, imagine one that hasn't run yet). Only imagine it big. Really big. Big enough you can read it from far away...like a low-flying plane. In other words, 67,000 times bigger than in the newspaper. Students at Gentry High School in Indianola worked with cartoonist Mark Pett to attempt to set a world record, assembling what is believed to be the World's Largest Comic Strop at 135 feet wide by 47 feet high--big enough to cover 35 school buses. Documentation on the feat is being send to the Guinness Book in hopes of making it official.
Addendum: Here's the info, including pictures, about the project on Mark's Web site.
The Richie Series, Part IV
More things sought on NASA education sites (BTW, Richie--you still enjoying these, or is this too much?):
--I don't have any information.
--I JUST KNOW THAT THERE IS OTHER LIFE IN THE UNNI. AND I HAVE PROF TO PROVE IT.NISH
--i need recoures for math- english-history-science.
--i want to buy star for my frind and i wan o name it by her anem so how can i reech to this site?
--I will love to go to space
--ideas of what to assess students about volcanoes in a classeoom.
--If flamingos can survive in space living only with penguins as their sidekicks.
--If the planet Mars were colonized what effect would it have on education?
--im doing a report on three different plants
--info to help me study and revise
--information about the sun being a source of heat for 2nd graders
--Instrumentation & electronica
--is the truth out there
--Its possibol images of Italy THANK-YOU
--juipers
--Jupders wehther paterns
Daily Hatbag
Enjoy today's cyber-strip.
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