Spaceflight
Category archives for Spaceflight
If Aliens Exist, should we be eager to meet them?
Posted by Ethan on April 26, 2010 To confine our attention to terrestrial matters would be to limit the human spirit. -Stephen Hawking Stephen Hawking is in the news today, big time. Why? He says that intelligent aliens almost certainly exist, and that we should definitely not try to contact them. In fact, he argues, we should stay as quiet as possible…
Weekend Diversion: The First American Women in Space!
Posted by Ethan on April 18, 2010 Never be limited by other people’s limited imaginations…If you adopt their attitudes, then the possibility won’t exist because you’ll have already shut it out … You can hear other people’s wisdom, but you’ve got to re-evaluate the world for yourself. -Mae Jemison, first African-American woman astronaut It’s always difficult to break down barriers, but those…
A New Space Vision: What I think
Posted by Ethan on April 16, 2010 I believe that this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the Moon and returning him safely to Earth. -John F. Kennedy, 1961 The entire human endeavor of spaceflight is — without a doubt — one of the greatest achievements in the history of…
NASA needs to take responsibility for their own shortcomings
Posted by Ethan on February 1, 2010 I’m as mad as hell, and I’m not going to take this anymore! -Howard Beale Let me tell you a little story. Nine years ago, I was living in California, and I had a car accident. The damage to my car was pretty bad; the first estimate I got said that it would take about…
Why I am dissatisfied with NASA’s Constellation
Posted by Ethan on January 28, 2010 We shall not cease from exploration and the end of all our exploring will be to arrive where we started… and know the place for the first time. -T.S. Eliot Yesterday, President Obama delivered his first State of the Union Address, and talked about a number of things that ranged from inspiring to disappointing. But…
The Perils of Planet-Hopping
Posted by Ethan on December 28, 2009 Watch me as I gravitate (hahahahaha). -Gorillaz Gravity — unbelievably — is the weakest force of all. But if you get enough mass together, gravity will overwhelm even the strongest outside influence. A simple case-in-point? You take a rock that’s massive enough, and gravity will crush it into a spherical shape, like it was nothing…
The Big Deal about LCROSS
Posted by Ethan on November 16, 2009 I thought I should consult you first before I went ahead with my plan to destroy the Moon. -Greg Angelone, via The Straight Dope Last week, scientists from LCROSS announced that they had detected “a buttload” of water on the Moon. Let’s go over what happened and what it means. The Moon is very different…
The Ares I-X Rocket Special
Posted by Ethan on November 2, 2009 My heroes had the heart to lose their lives out on a limb, And all I remember is thinking, “I want to be like them!” –Gnarls Barkley And here’s a new discovery (to me): the Violent Femmes version to help you through your post-Halloween Monday: The Ares I-X rocket has been all over the news…
