Space Cadet

I knew the STS 119 Launch scheduled on March 12 at 9:38pm was a shot in the dark both literally and figuratively-speaking, but at 3am I jetted from the John F. Kennedy Airport to the Kennedy Space Center just in case. When Louella, the Astronaut Relations Manager at Virgin Galactic gave me tickets to see the launch at Banana Creek, which is only 3 miles from the launch pad, I was ecstatic. 3 miles may sound a bit far, but anyone who scootches much closer is at risk for death ...

I grew up in Colombia Missouri, which is not far from a typical, small mid-western town named Marshfield. Have you heard of Marshfield, Missouri? Until recently, the town was just a humble speck on my Missouri highway map. As soon as I was old enough to leave the state on my own, I moved to New York to discover something….anything. After all, though astronomically impossible, it does seem as if the world revolves around New York City. If one is hungry for an up-close and personal view of renowned feats ...

Coney Island's Astroland was recently closed down to make room for developer Thor Equities' commercial vision for the boardwalk area, but one relic will remain: the 14,000 pound, 71 ft. long virtual reality ride to the moon which is currently in storage (believe it or not, it used to be on top of a hot dog stand). It will soon be on display as a tribute, or rather a "blast from the past" to the days of roller coasters and cotton candy. The 26-seat rocket was installed by the park's ...

That's right: you can give your loved on a little boost to the heavens, thanks to Celestis Inc., a Texas-based aerospace company. I have to admit, the idea did make me chuckle a bit when I first stumbled upon Celestis' site...but it is a very unique way to go down (or up). And the company looks impressive: they've been around for 30 years and were the first private company to launch into outer space (1982).
Past (or maybe I should say “passed”) clients include Timothy Leary and James Doohan. Notable clients ...

Virgin Galactic had 10 tickets up for grabs for their future astronauts, and yours truly is one of the lucky recipients of one of them! I feel like I've just bitten into a Willie Wonka bar and found a golden ticket. I'll take lots of photos for TalkingScience Space Cadets, of course.
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This "unconference" was was unbelievably cool. Scientists really do get a bad rap for being geeky, and one could understandably fear that a meeting of science online groupies might wind up being a gathering of socially inept researchers who have an odd twitch, resemble Frankenstein a bit, and blog from dark corners of their labs because no one will talk to them at a bar. Not so!
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According to 2005 statistics from the United Nations World Development Report and the CIA World Factbook, nearly 81% of India's population and 35% of people living in China manage to survive (though perhaps not with clean water or sanitation) on less than US $2/day. Even in the United States, 12% of Americans live under the poverty line...and yet, every year governments spend billions of taxpayers' dollars on risky space missions. Those funds could be allocated to schools or other much-needed infrastructure needed on Earth rather than aimed in the direction ...

Virgin Galactic is on-track and doing very well; the WhiteKnightTwo is still slated to complete a test flight before Christmas. So why is George Whitesides, the Senior Advisor, taking a temp position?
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Wall Street is in more than a slump--dare I say, it seems impotent. The question is, can the space industry fly while the market is crashing? The answer is...well, it's debatable.
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As many of you already know, a replica of the HMS Beagle is currently under construction in Milford Haven, Pembrokeshire. It will look like Darwin's Beagle on the outside, but will be filled with the latest-and-greatest modern gadgets on the inside: diesel auxiliary engines, radars, and satellite communication devices-- to name a few things. The Beagle Project team consists not only of a bunch of adventurous, tech savvy science geeks, though, they're also savvy seafaring socialites shooting for the stars. After all, when it comes to a long voyage, it's ...