Best newspaper correction ever: following the launch of Apollo 11, the New York Times retracts its 1920 statement insisting rockets can't fly in space.

SCIENCE IS BACK, MOTHERFUCKERS!

HELL YEAH!

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Oh, and those astronauts stuck to the outside of it? That's because they get into the suits from INSIDE THE VEHICLE. IS THAT NOT AWESOME.

The shuttle launched just now. It's safely into orbit, engines off, boosters and tank jettisoned.

It will deliver a new lab module to the space station, this one built by Europe.

If the mission proceeds on schedule, with no extensions, it's scheduled to land at 7am on my birthday. However, missions commonly are extended a couple days.

Today is Space Memorial Day in the US ( Read more... )

Travelex (one of the big moneychangers) has developed a currency intended for use in space. They looked at such problems as sub-light-speed communication delays, radiation, and weightlessness, and developed a "coin" made of the same stuff as the "teflon" coat in your frying pan. The exchange rate is painful, as one "quid" costs more than US$12. ( Read more... )

Happy 50th birthday, Sputnik!

So I got up at 230am to go look at the moon ( Read more... )

There was a wasabi spill on the space station.

My sinuses hurt just thinking about that.

In tribute to yesterday's Space Memorial Day, I give you the real reasons we go to space.

I saw a meteor last night :) The biggest I've ever seen.

The NASA color key says it was a ball of magnesium.

Very pretty blue and green.