Take a Ride to Space–the Reality is Getting Closer!

Today, Virgin Galactic tested their Spaceship Two vehicle, the one that will one day take passengers to space.  (The pricetag for a ride–a mere $200,000)

Take a tour of Spaceship Two:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-12915976

Then, when you’re finished with the tour, watch the video of Spaceship Two in action:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-22344398

Spaceship Two will be carried up to about 50,000 feet by a larger aircraft, which will allow the hybrid engine to save fuel and operate once it is above most of the air in our atmosphere (the larger plane will use its fuel to carry it that high).  Once at about 50,000 feet above the earth, Spaceship Two will be dropped from the carrier plane, the engine will ignite, and the aircraft/spacecraft will rocket to space, where it will spend a short time before carrying its passengers back to earth.

There is no specific date for its first trip to space, but just in case you have a few hundred thousand dollars hanging around in your pocket, here’s Virgin Galactic’s site, where you can place a down payment:

http://www.virgingalactic.com/booking/

(Now, if only the Einstein Fellowship provided this for professional development…)

Sign the Petition to Reverse the Suspension of all NASA Educational Activities

NO MORE EDUCATION.

On Friday, March 22, a memo went out NASA-wide, stating, in part:

“Effective immediately, all education and public outreach activities should be suspended, pending further review. In terms of scope, this includes all public engagement and outreach events, programs, activities, and products developed and implemented by Headquarters, Mission Directorates, and Centers across the Agency, including all education and public outreach efforts conducted by programs and projects.

The scope comprises activities intended to communicate, connect with, and engage a wide and diverse set of audiences to raise awareness and involvement in NASA, its goals, missions and programs, and to develop an appreciation for, exposure to, and involvement in STEM. Audiences include employees, partners, educators, students, and members of the general public. The scope encompasses, but is not limited to:

- Programs, events, and workshops.
- Permanent and traveling exhibits, signage, and other materials.
- Speeches, presentations, and appearances, with the exception of technical presentations by researchers at scientific and technical symposia.
- Video and multimedia products in development (and renewal of existing products).
- Web and social media sites in development (excludes operational sites).
- External and internal publications, with the exception of Scientific and Technical Information as defined by NPD 2200.1B.
- Any other activity whose goal is to reach out to external and internal stakeholders and the public concerning NASA, its programs, and activities.”

Read more: http://www.universetoday.com/100949/sequester-cancels-nasa-outreach/#ixzz2Ob6Oup4E

So is all NASA education cancelled for good?  No.  But forget about seeing NASA at any events, forget about NASA being at conferences like the Space Symposium, and forget about NASA developing new apps, education products, or supporting may ongoing design challenges, etc.  A few will still exist, as long as they obtain an illusive waiver that meets strict criteria.  At least for now.

What can you do?

You can sign the petition below:

https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/petition/repeal-sequesters-cuts-nasas-spending-public-outreach-and-its-stem-programs/kY7Tw85q

For those of you skeptics out there who say “Who cares? The budget is tight for everyone…we all have to cut back,” think about the damage that’s being done by cutting pretty much everything from education.  What kind of message are we sending to kids, to the public, by letting them know that education is not worth keeping?  Education is a long-haul investment, one that takes time to see the pay-off for, and one that keeps goals and dreams alive.  Is this really what we should be taking away?

Take a minute, help NASA education out, and work hard to encourage all of us to support education, ESPECIALLY when the going gets tough.

Black History Month, Ronald McNair, the Space Shuttle, and a Book

February is Black History month, and when we take a look at this month from the perspective many of us have today, it’s hard to imagine–or for others, to remember–that life was very different for so many people not so long ago.

In 1986, astronaut Ronald McNair was aboard the Space Shuttle Challenger when it was destroyed in our atmosphere.  He was one of the seven astronauts who lost their lives and changed many of our lives forever.  But before he became an astronaut, he grew up in a place where little black boys didn’t become astronauts…in fact, they weren’t even supposed to borrow library books.

This youtube video is a story by Ronald’s brother Carl, who told StoryCorps about Ronald when they were growing up (if you haven’t listened to StoryCorps, you should.  Stories from anyone are recorded and preserved at the Library of Congress, and each story is a shared memory about someone they knew…many times these people are relatives or spouses.  You listen to everyday people talking about everyday people, and the stories are amazing, and funny, and serious…you can go to http://www.storycorps.org to hear some of them, or to find out how to record a story of your own for the Library of Congress).

Enjoy this story, and take the time to think about how far we’ve come in 50 years, along with where we need to go from here.

 

Asteroid to Pass by Earth on Feb. 15

On February 15th, 2013, an asteroid will pass closer to the earth than any known asteroid has before.  Don’t worry, the asteroid, which is about 150 feet in diameter, doesn’t have a chance of striking the earth, but it will come closer than some of our satellites.  NASA has been following the asteroid, which has an orbit very similar to earth’s, and they’re excited to study it up close as it comes within 17,200 miles of the earth.  You won’t be able to see it with the naked eye, but if you have a good pair of binoculars or a telescope, you’ll get a good view as it zooms past at about 17,500 miles an hour.

The link below answers many questions about the asteroid:

http://www.nasa.gov/topics/solarsystem/features/asteroidflyby.html

Happy viewing!

Space Exploration and Educators Conference

Every year, Johnson Space Center in Houston, TX holds a Space Exploration and Educators Conference (SEEC), which is three days of tours, workshops, and events that highlight what NASA is up to and how teachers can take advantage of lessons and other events.  Tours of Johnson Space Center facilities, including the food lab where they make space food, the neutral buoyancy tank (the “swimming pool” where astronauts train), mission control, etc.  Workshops are conducted on NASA programs, lesson plans and ideas, and ways classrooms can be a part of NASA.  I’ll be conducting a workshop on “Museum in a Box,” one of the aeronautics curricula I work on.

I just found out that there are a few scholarships still available for any teachers interested in attending.  Here’s the link to SEEC:

http://www.spacecenter.org/teachersSEEC.html

If you can’t make it to SEEC, tell a teacher you know about the opportunity.  It should be a lot of fun!

Space 2012 in Review (or “A Few of My Favorite Things…”)

While the world worried about its “ending”, politicians spent gazillions of dollars and energy bickering with one another, and storms ripped across our planet, it was quite a year in the blissful silence of space.  Here are some of the highlights that may have been overlooked or interrupted by very loud election-year commercials:

1.) Twin GRAIL satellites entered into the moon’s orbit and successfully mapped the moon’s gravitational pull, giving us hints at what the moon’s interior is like:

2.) Exoplanets orbiting other suns continue to be found, including one circling Alpha Centauri B, our nearest neighbor.  The Kepler mission has confirmed over 105 exoplanets so far (good news in case our world really does end!  Too bad Alpha Centauri is over 100 light years away…).

3.) CERN, the large hadron collider, detected a new particle, one that matched what physicists have been searching for…the elusive Higgs Boson particle, perhaps?  This particle might help explain why all matter has mass.

4.) Voyager satellites have been zooming through the solar system for 35 years.  The two satellites have been traveling towards the edge of our solar system, and this year, discovered a new region at the edge of the solar system–a magnetic “highway” in the heliosphere (the outer limits of the “bubble” surrounding our solar system).  Once they pass through the solar system, they will be the first man-made objects to leave our solar system.  When they launched, bell-bottoms were new and cool.

5.) A close-up study of Vesta, an asteroid-like body orbiting the earth, reveals that it is more planet-like than asteroid-like.  Called a “protoplanet,” Vesta’s development into a planet seemed to have been stopped sometime.  The question is why.  NASA has plans to investigate the protoplanet further, perhaps by sending astronauts to land there.  More in-depth studies of Vesta could help us understand more about Earth’s formation.

6.) Space shuttles were delivered to museums and science centers across the U.S.  If you wanted to see a space shuttle before 2012, your choices were Florida and well, Florida.  You could see Enterprise, which was the glide test vehicle, in Washington, DC, but now some very space-battered shuttles can be seen in New York City, Los Angeles, Washington, DC, and well, still Florida.  Each shuttle will be ultimately displayed in a different way: one will be sitting on its wheels, one will be in launch position, one will still have its rear cone one the back as it was when being transported on a 747, and one will be displayed diagonally with its cargo bay doors open.

7.) SpaceX successfully launched its Dragon capsule and docked with the International Space Station, becoming the first commercial capsule in space.  Several other companies are close on SpaceX’s heels, bringing commercialization and technical competition to space like never before.

8.) Curiosity successfully lands on Mars, bringing a high-tech chemistry lab to our closest planet.  You can even get tweets from Curiosity.

9.) Felix Baumgartner reaches new highs when he jumps from his high-altitude capsule 24 miles above the earth.  The previous record was held by Joe Kittinger for his 1960s jump at 102,800 ft.

10.) The world lost two great space explorers–Neil Armstrong and Sally Ride.  We were all inspired by their bravery, and now, the stars are a little brighter with them there.

My Blog’s 2012 review

The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2012 annual report for this blog.  I never knew so many different people would find it.  I hope you enjoyed it so far, and will continue to bring new and exciting things to you as I find them.  Happy New Year!

Here’s an excerpt:

The new Boeing 787 Dreamliner can carry about 250 passengers. This blog was viewed about 1,100 times in 2012. If it were a Dreamliner, it would take about 4 trips to carry that many people.

Click here to see the complete report.