Time for a space update! (Writing this entry cheered me right up, so there.)
It's been... *checks last space post* oh, a whole week since the last one! Yay! (I think I need a space icon.)
So, mostly this is just an update on the way that the guy from Maine won the space-glove challenge again. Pretty cool, huh? NASA could not bring anything that his glove couldn't handle, heck yeah! :p Apparently he started a company to "manufacture gloves for the emerging commercial spaceflight market", ie for the people over at Virgin Galactic. (See how it's all connected? :p)The only money left in this challenge is, I believe, the extra prize for extreme innovation in the outer covering of the glove (that is, the part that protects the inner pressurized layer from micro-meteorites and stuff).
Also, in something that I think I forgot to mention, some of NASA's other challenges are clearly aimed at creating the space elevator. Oooor you could just go here, i.e. to the website for the "Space Elevator Games". Guys. I love NASA.
Also, while checking out the other stuff they do for "innovators", I found this list of projects that were tested this year. Some of them are pretty rockin' (quite a few have to do with moon resources), but some of them are especially cool, including this thing about flux pinning, which so far as I can tell is set for making sci-fi like docking, and also for making space-things that aren't actually connected to each other. I also liked the the thing Johns Hopkins is doing, since it seems immediately useful on Earth. ^^
And look, I could totally work for them someday! I might have to go back to school and do international relations or international space law or something, but WHATEV. *gets starry eyed* Or I could just join the history division. (Yes, I probably would marry NASA, shut up.)
In real-life news, this morning I had a class in which students, who as T-sensei says "aren't normally interested in English", were a little interested due to my presence and the betting game! Awesome! Also, for English class with K2-sensei's first years, I got to help them practice the pronunciation of "Santa Claus is Comin' to Town" by singing it to them line-by-line and having them repeat. Aaaaagh. That was less than awesome. >.>
Oh, something that's excellent about living in Japan is that I never have to buy fruits and/or vegetables. Possibly this is just from working at a school (and also because I a.) live alone and b.) don't eat that many veggies anyway so they last forever), but man, people are always giving me food. Like yesterday, I came back from class to discover three giant apples and a pack of mushrooms on my desk. "Uwah", I said. Turns out that some farmers came to give the students food and then the teachers got the extras. And there were a ton of extras. Probably I could have taken four or five apples if I had wanted, but these things are GIGANTOR, so I didn't.
Also, yesterday I managed to break my second adapter, which means that I am once again without the ability to charge my computer in my house. *woe* Hopefully my sister still has hers in Australia, or there goes skyping at Christmas. >.>
But! It's now 6 days until I depart for Australia!! And tonight there is an Eikawa class X-mas party, and the 22nd is my school's bonenkai (end of year forget the past year party), so the time should fly by even faster than you would expect. XD
EDIT: Icon made!
So, mostly this is just an update on the way that the guy from Maine won the space-glove challenge again. Pretty cool, huh? NASA could not bring anything that his glove couldn't handle, heck yeah! :p Apparently he started a company to "manufacture gloves for the emerging commercial spaceflight market", ie for the people over at Virgin Galactic. (See how it's all connected? :p)The only money left in this challenge is, I believe, the extra prize for extreme innovation in the outer covering of the glove (that is, the part that protects the inner pressurized layer from micro-meteorites and stuff).
Also, in something that I think I forgot to mention, some of NASA's other challenges are clearly aimed at creating the space elevator. Oooor you could just go here, i.e. to the website for the "Space Elevator Games". Guys. I love NASA.
Also, while checking out the other stuff they do for "innovators", I found this list of projects that were tested this year. Some of them are pretty rockin' (quite a few have to do with moon resources), but some of them are especially cool, including this thing about flux pinning, which so far as I can tell is set for making sci-fi like docking, and also for making space-things that aren't actually connected to each other. I also liked the the thing Johns Hopkins is doing, since it seems immediately useful on Earth. ^^
And look, I could totally work for them someday! I might have to go back to school and do international relations or international space law or something, but WHATEV. *gets starry eyed* Or I could just join the history division. (Yes, I probably would marry NASA, shut up.)
In real-life news, this morning I had a class in which students, who as T-sensei says "aren't normally interested in English", were a little interested due to my presence and the betting game! Awesome! Also, for English class with K2-sensei's first years, I got to help them practice the pronunciation of "Santa Claus is Comin' to Town" by singing it to them line-by-line and having them repeat. Aaaaagh. That was less than awesome. >.>
Oh, something that's excellent about living in Japan is that I never have to buy fruits and/or vegetables. Possibly this is just from working at a school (and also because I a.) live alone and b.) don't eat that many veggies anyway so they last forever), but man, people are always giving me food. Like yesterday, I came back from class to discover three giant apples and a pack of mushrooms on my desk. "Uwah", I said. Turns out that some farmers came to give the students food and then the teachers got the extras. And there were a ton of extras. Probably I could have taken four or five apples if I had wanted, but these things are GIGANTOR, so I didn't.
Also, yesterday I managed to break my second adapter, which means that I am once again without the ability to charge my computer in my house. *woe* Hopefully my sister still has hers in Australia, or there goes skyping at Christmas. >.>
But! It's now 6 days until I depart for Australia!! And tonight there is an Eikawa class X-mas party, and the 22nd is my school's bonenkai (end of year forget the past year party), so the time should fly by even faster than you would expect. XD
EDIT: Icon made!