Last week, NASA was abuzz with activity preparing for the final mission of the STS-135. These preparations led to the final launch of the Space Shuttle on Friday, July 8th. The historic launch is the end of a program that began with its first launch on April 12, 1981. Designed to be humanity’s first reusable [...]

It is with a heavy heart that many NASA followers and space enthusiasts watched the Space Shuttle Atlantis launch at around 11:30 today, July 8th, 2011. It is bitter-sweet, because space flight enthusiasts have been anticipating this launch for many weeks, with NASA drumming up publicity for the launch through an aggressive PR campaign, providing [...]

Last November, two astrophysicists, John Matese and Daniel Whitmire, proposed the existence of a new planet located in the Oort Cloud of our solar system. This is a very controversial idea in the astronomy world. Many scientists dismiss the claims; while the two astrophysicists maintain that there is proof of the planet’s existence. Then, there [...]

Last week, NASA announced that its MESSENGER spacecraft completed the first of four “hot seasons” that will take place during its one-year orbit of the planet. In a press release last week, NASA stated, “During these hot seasons, the Sun-facing side of the probe’s sunshade can reach temperatures as high as 350°C [662°F].” According to [...]

We are all familiar Open Source Software (OSS) and many of us use this type of software every day. Software such as the Mozilla Firefox Internet browser, Ubuntu operating system, Gateway Anti-Virus, Winpooch and the list goes on. It has been estimated that the use of OSS packages saves consumers $60 billion per year. This [...]

NASA’s first space-based ocean measurement instrument is nearly ready to take flight. The agency is preparing to send its Aquarius satellite instrument into space, where it will test ocean water from high polar orbit, 408 miles above the surface of the Earth. The mission will provide scientists with key information about how salinity in our [...]

Earlier this month, the world celebrated 50 years of human spaceflight, and the anniversary of the first launch of a human, Cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin, into space. Gagarin was launched on April 12, 1961. When he returned, he was an international celebrity. He was also awarded many medals, including Hero of the Soviet Union, the nation’s [...]

NASA technicians have been busy preparing the space shuttle Discovery for its February 24th launch. The upcoming mission will be the 35th launch to the International Space Station. The mission, labeled STS-133, is to “deliver and install the Permanent Multipurpose Module, the Express Logistics Carrier 4 and provide critical spare components to the International Space [...]

During World War II, the Germans became extremely successful in developing and using rockets to attack London and other areas of the UK from bases in northern France. While some rockets had been tested in the US, the expertise lay in Germany and so, with Europe in the hands of the Allies in 1945, numerous [...]

Recently I wrote a short article about Wernher von Braun, the German rocket scientist that paved the way for NASA’s space program and the Apollo 11 moon landing. Prior to becoming NASA’s premier rocket scientist, von Braun was a Nazi rocket scientist. He was not only a scientist, but an officer in the Waffen-SS as [...]