Additional cool thing - to the left of the moon was Saturn and sort of above was the star Regulus (a second magnitude star also known as Alpha Leonis approximately 77.5 light years away in the constellation Leo, if you must know).
I caught it just after it was the peak ( I had forgotten about it during the game). The eclipse started at 7:45 pm local, ended at 11:09 local with the peak at 9:01 local.
]]>But I thought it was interesting to hear about what I would think would be another "shot through the heart" that is being planned, though not from cupid... or Bon Jovi for that matter.
There's this Spy Satellite (identified only as USA 193) that was launched on December 14th, 2006 from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California on a Delta II rocket. Shortly after reaching obit, ground controllers lost the ability to control the satellite, and have never regained it.
So, this thing is in this decaying orbit. Since there was never any contact, 1,000 pounds of the maneuvering fuel (hydrazine) is still onboard. So, the United States is concerned that this huge thing is not going to burn-up completely when it finally dives into the atmosphere. The hydrazine is deadly, so the United States is going to shoot down the satellite first. With an anti-ballistic missile. To make sure the tank gets ruptured and the hydrazine gets dissipated.
Let's look at a few things. this satellite is about 5,000 pounds. The government is worried about the debris. Larger things have re-entered with little damage, like Mir (clocking in at about 274,000 lbs). Even Skylab, that had major pieces survive didn't do that much damage (about 169,000 pounds).
I'd like to believe the government is worried about the hydrazine, but... come on... truthfully... don't you think it's because they're worried key technology components may survive reentry and be recovered by other unnamed countries? I mean... hello!... Spy satellite!
Still... kinda cool if they could actually hit the thing.
]]>It all REALLY started 50 years ago today, 9 months to the day after I was born.
]]>...now we have DRUNK astronauts... on the shuttle... before launch
From a magazine I subscribe to:
Aviation Week & Space Technology... said that the committee found that on at least two occasions, astronauts were allowed to fly after flight surgeons and other astronauts warned they were so intoxicated that they posed a flight-safety risk.]]>
Astronaut Lisa Nowak gets fired.
(My blog entry about this is here)
Because Nowak is a naval officer on assignment to NASA, rather than a NASA civil servant, she is not subject to administrative action by NASA
Nowak's firing marked the first time NASA has publicly dismissed an astronaut, said space historian Roger Launius of the Smithsonian Institution. She is also the first active astronaut to be charged with a felony, he said.
So bizarre... so... foreign... what causes someone to do something like this? Especially, a shuttle astronaut????
CNN Stories (Updated)
Astronaut to face attempted murder charge
Astronaut's star appeared to be on rise at NASA
Astronaut flies back to troubled Houston home
NASA wants to know if there are 'lessons to be learned'
No attempted murder charge for astronaut Nowak
NASA chief: We didn't recognize Nowak was troubled
Sexy e-mails shed light on astronaut's bizarre behavior
NASA fires astronaut Nowak
Orlando Sentinel Story - Astronaut charged with attempted murder
I heard that.. and immediately thought about some guy going nuts, 'cause after all... the astronaut corps is mainly men... but, no... not a guy... a woman... Navy Capt. Lisa Marie Nowak - a Mission Specialist on STS-121 (July 4-17, 2006)... you know, a flight that was a return-to-flight test mission and assembly flight to the International Space Station, responsible for operating the remote arm during scheduled EVAs. She's married, with three children
You know... somebody driven, intelligent, skilled... under significant scrutiny to make sure she is physically and mentally fit for spaceflight.
Oh, such a strange tale... more bizarre the more I hear of it...
OK... ALLEGEDLY... this is what is "known":
Nowak drove over 900 miles.. from Houston to Orlando International Airport.
Nowak wore a diaper during the 14-hour drive so that she wouldn't have to stop for bathroom breaks
Astronauts wear what NASA calls maximum-absorbency garments to collect their waste during space travel.
After waiting 2 hours for her luggage, she walked to her car:
As Shipman walked to her car she noticed a woman in a trench coat who appeared to be following her, the police report said. She quickly jumped into her car and heard "running footsteps" behind her, Shipman told police.Nowak slapped the window of the car as Shipman locked it, the report said. Nowak then tried to open the car door, saying that her ride had not arrived.
Shipman told Nowak she send for help, but when Nowak said she couldn't hear her and started to cry, Shipman cracked her window, the report said. The 2-inch space in the window was all Nowak needed to send pepper spray into the car, police said.
Her eyes burning, Shipman drove to a tollbooth and reported the incident.
The charges against Nowak stem from an alleged love triangle in which Nowak and Shipman were competing for the affections of astronaut Bill Oefelein, police said.
Charges? Attempted kidnapping, battery, and attempted vehicle burglary with battery... and destruction of evidence.
Yeah, destruction of evidence...
When an officer found Nowak at a bus stop, she was wearing a different coat, and the officer observed her putting items in a trash can, the police report said. The officer retrieved a wig and a BB gun from the trash can, the report said.Police found in Nowak's bag a tan trench coat, a new steel mallet, a folding knife with a 4-inch blade, 3 to 4 feet of rubber tubing, large plastic garbage bags and about $600 in cash, the report said.
...police found diapers, six latex gloves, directions from Houston to Orlando International Airport, e-mails from Shipman to Oefelein, a letter indicating how much she loved Oefelein and directions to Shipman's home address in Florida, the report said.Oops.. correction..
She also was initially charged with destruction of evidence, but the judge said he found no probable cause for the charge.
According to the report, she told police that her relationship with Oefelein was "more than a working relationship but less than a romantic relationship."
Strange... creepy...
UPDATE: Looks like she's also going to be charged with Attempted First Degree Murder...
Navy Capt. Lisa Marie Nowak had already paid her bail on three other charges when she learned that she would not be released because Orlando police were planning to add attempted murder to the list, said Allen Moore, a spokesman for the Orange County Corrections Department.Nowak will remain in protective custody until her first appearance on the new charge, which will likely come Wednesday morning, Moore said. The additional charge is likely to be filed Tuesday afternoon, Moore added.
One legal analyst said police and prosecutors likely added the new charge because they were miffed the judge granted Nowak bail when they requested she be held without bond.
UPDATE:
A family statement said Nowak had recently separated from her husband of 19 years, who works at NASA Mission Control. They have a teenage son and young twin daughters.The Associated Press reported that there had been signs of problems before Nowak's arrest. In November, police were called to Nowak's home near the Johnson Space Center after a neighbor reported hearing the sounds of dishes being thrown inside, AP reported.
Michael Coats, director of NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston, issued a statement saying Nowak "is officially on 30-day leave and has been removed from flight status and all mission-related activities."]]>
Almost three years later, on Sol 951 (a Martian Day is called a Sol), the rover "Opportunity" has reached Victoria Crater.
Truly amazing.
"And to show how genuinely surprised scientists are at the long duration of the rovers, scientists recently had to solve a problem similar to the "Y2K" crisis of 1999-2000. In the latest revision of software sent to the rovers, programmers had to add a fourth digit to the assignment of tasks for each Mars day. When the rovers were designed, no one could imagine they would still be thriving more than 999 sols, or Mars days."
]]>The IAU therefore resolves that planets and other bodies in our Solar System be defined into three distinct categories in the following way:The second resolution, the one that demoted Pluto offcially reads:
(1) A classical planet is a celestial body that (a) is in orbit around the Sun, (b) has sufficient mass for its self-gravity to overcome rigid body forces so that it assumes a hydrostatic equilibrium (nearly round) shape, and (c) has cleared the neighbourhood around its orbit.
(2) A dwarf planet is a celestial body that (a) is in orbit around the Sun, (b) has sufficient mass for its self-gravity to overcome rigid body forces so that it assumes a hydrostatic equilibrium (nearly round) shape, (c) has not cleared the neighbourhood around its orbit, and (d) is not a satellite.
(3) All other objects orbiting the Sun shall be referred to collectively as "Small Solar System Bodies".
The IAU further resolves:With these resolutions, there are now the eight classical planets. In addition to these eight, there are (currently) four dwarf planets including Pluto, Charon, Ceres, and 2003 UB313 (a.k.a. Xena), bringing the total number of planets (classical and dwarf) to twelve. This new definition also leaves open the possibility for even more known celestial bodies to become dwarf planets, leading contenders at this point are the asteroids Pallas, Vesta, and Hygeia. ]]>
Pluto is a dwarf planet by the above definition and is recognized as the prototype of a new category of trans-Neptunian objects. This category is to be called "plutonian objects."
Now, if the first shuttle flight was 25 years ago today, today is rich is space history.
It's the 45th anniversary of Yuri Gagarin's flight to space in 1961 - the first manned orbital mission. The first time man was in space.
And today, both a Russian Cosmonaut (Pavel Vinogradov) and an American Astronaut (Jeff Williams) celebrate this moment together in the international Space Station.
This is all so cool.
]]>I still have in my bookcase the mutli-volume report from the Presidential Commission.
It was 20 years ago today that the United States lost a Space Shuttle and it's crew in a fireball of an explosion.
And who would have thought that it wouldn't be the last time.
]]>Wonder how long it will be until we see another shuttle launch?
FIX IT. GET IT RIGHT. GET US BACK INTO SPACE.
]]>Google it!
Yes, it's the Google Maps tool - for the moon!
(Just don't zoom-in too close!)
You what today is? It was 36 years ago to that Apollo 11 landed on the moon!
]]>