Jun20

Copenhagen Suborbitals: Sapphire launch update

by TopSpacer on June 20, 2013 at 2:41 am
Posted In: DIY space, Rockets

Kristian von Bengtson of Copenhagen Suborbitals  writes about the status of the launch of the Sapphire active guided rocket: T minus 3 days – Sapphire Rocket Facts and Nerdy stuff to Know -  Wired Science/Wired.com

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Jun20

ARKYD space telescope Kickstarter passes $1M goal

by TopSpacer on June 20, 2013 at 2:11 am
Posted In: Astronomy, Space participation

The Planetary Resources Kickstarter campaign for the ARKYD public access space telescope surpassed the $1,000,000 goal today. At the moment, they have 11,356 backers, with $1,003,126 pledged and 11 days to go.

Just yesterday (see post  here) they had $916,582 after about 20 days of fundraising. It was starting to look like the pledges had leveled off and they might have trouble reaching $1M. When I saw the total this evening, I first thought that a single person might have given them a boost but the number of backers had also jumped from about 100 per day to over 700 today as seen in the charts at ARKYD – Kicktraq.

They also introduced new Add-ons and a new mystery stretch goal for $1.5M:

New $1.5M Mystery Stretch Goal Revealed!
When we reach $1.5 Million in pledges, every selfie pledge or higher will receive an exclusive digital Beta-Selfie, taken next year during the crucial integration phase of spacecraft build! Become a part of the build and catch a glimpse of our clean-room squad in action!

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Jun19

My space art

by TopSpacer on June 19, 2013 at 4:36 pm
Posted In: Space Arts

I have been drawing as a hobby since I was a graduate student long, long ago. I finally submitted some of my artwork to a show in Washington D.C. at the urging of a friend.  Luckily they accepted two of my color pencil still life works. The opening is on June 25th. See the invite below.

The show prompted me to create a website to display more of my work. In addition to my still lifes,  I have posted a gallery of my NewSpace inspired pieces like this one:

SpaceX_CRS1_606x500

Hope you enjoy my space art show as well as my other works.

Juried Show Announcement Card_800x505

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Jun19

“The Plundering of NASA: an Exposé” by Rick Boozer

by TopSpacer on June 19, 2013 at 2:50 pm
Posted In: Space books, Space Policy

Check out astrophysicist Rick Boozer‘s new book, The Plundering of NASA: an Exposé, which I read in draft form. It lays out the mess that NASA human spaceflight policy is in, how it got that way, and how to fix it.

At last, here is a book peering behind the veil of Congressional politics which force NASA to do the bidding of regional interests that cripple the nation’s capabilities in both exploring outer space and exploiting its enormous economic potential. Presenting the opinions of astronauts, prominent “rocket scientists” and space policy analysts while also revealing unpublicized studies conducted by NASA, industry and universities, The Plundering of NASA: An Exposé combines into one book many of the facts the major media have either ignored or not discovered. It relates how honest misconceptions, greed, and an outdated faction within NASA itself cause our nation to get less for its space agency tax dollars than it could and should.

Currently it is available as a Amazon ebook, and in paperback at Lulu.com, where there is a 20% discount until it becomes available in bookstores.

Rick will be on the SpaceVidCast program on July 6 to discuss the book.

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Jun19

The Rocket Company: Chapters 9-12

by TopSpacer on June 19, 2013 at 2:35 pm
Posted In: Rockets, Solar Sci-Fi, Space books

In the continuing serialization of the updated version of the book The Rocket Company by Patrick J. G. Stiennon and David M. Hoerr, with illustrations by Doug Birkholz.  This week you can obtain the following chapters of the book:

Download these within the next week. Only four chapters will be available at any one time.

See also the electronic version of the updated book is available at  The Rocket Company eBook by Patrick Stiennon, David Hoerr, Peter Diamandis, Doug Birkhol: Kindle Store/Amazon.com.

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Jun19

Space policy – June.19.13

by TopSpacer on June 19, 2013 at 2:01 pm
Posted In: Space Policy

There will be a House committee hearing on the NASA authorization bill this morning at 10:00 am EDT: Subcommittee on Space Hearing – NASA Authorization Act of 2013 | Committee on Science – U.S. House of Representatives

A draft of the bill contains language that would prohibit funding for much of the NASA plan for future asteroid missions. However, its emphasis on redirecting NASA to focus on missions to the Moon does not include funding for the systems to do lunar expeditions.

I’ll note that the reason the Augustine committee recommended asteroid missions for the human spaceflight program was to have something useful to do while landing and surface operations systems were being developed for lunar and Mars missions. There would not be enough money to develop such systems in parallel with development of the launch and in-space transport systems. This authorization draft shows this to be the case. The SLS/Orion project eats up the HSF funding in a NASA budget that is actually getting smaller rather than remaining flat as in the Augustine worst case scenarios.

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Dennis Wingo posts his thoughts on destinations for the : Moon, Mars, or Asteroids, Which is the Best Destination for Solar System Development? – Dennis Wingo

 

 

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Jun18

Video: Gwynne Shotwell of SpaceX talks about STEM education

by TopSpacer on June 18, 2013 at 10:31 pm
Posted In: Education, Space Policy

Gwynne Shotwell, president and COO of SpaceX, gives a TEDx talk on STEM education: Engineering America: Gwynne Shotwell at TEDxChapmanU – YouTube

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Jun18

Space policy roundup – June.18.13

by TopSpacer on June 18, 2013 at 10:28 pm
Posted In: Space Policy

Some space policy for today:

Update: More policy items

 

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Jun18

Video: 3D view of ESA Automated Transfer Vehicle separating from booster

by TopSpacer on June 18, 2013 at 10:17 pm
Posted In: Multiple media, Space Systems

Strap on your stereo glasses and watch the European ATV cargo module “Albert Einstein”, which was launched on June 6th, as it separates from the upper stage booster:

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Jun18

NASA ScienceCasts: Strange flames on the ISS

by TopSpacer on June 18, 2013 at 4:21 pm
Posted In: Living in Space, Science and Technology

The latest NASA ScienceCast reports on combustion studies on the ISS:

Researchers experimenting with flames onboard the International Space Station have produced a strange, cool-burning form of fire that could help improve the efficiency of auto engines.

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Jun18

Update on the Arkyd space telescope Kickstarter campaign

by TopSpacer on June 18, 2013 at 5:24 am
Posted In: Astronomy, Education, Space participation

The Planetary Resources fund-raising for the ARKYD public access space telescope has reached 10,350 Backers and $916,582 pledged towards the $1,000,000 goal with 12 days to go. That’s a tremendous accomplishment for a space Kickstarter campaign but it actually seems a bit disappointing considering how fast the pledges were coming in during the first couple weeks. It looks like they will have to work hard just to make sure they reach the $1.0M goal, much less meet their $2M stretch goal to fund exoplanet searches.

Kickstarter campaigns often have a surge in the final few days as efforts intensify to meet the deadline. So it’s still likely they will beat the $1M goal and it will be interesting to see how far past it they get.

Follow their money raising rate at ARKYD: A Space Telescope for Everyone by Planetary Resources :: Kicktraq.

ExoplanetStretchGoal

2 Comments
Jun18

Spacevidcast 6.17: Not because it’s easy

by TopSpacer on June 18, 2013 at 1:01 am
Posted In: Activism, General, SpaceCasts

The latest Spacevidcast show is now available online: Not Because it’s Easy – Spacevidcast Live 6.17 – Spacevidcast -

Caption:

 First off, you can grab George’s book, “Not because it’s easy” on Amazon here: http://www.amazon.com/Not-Because-Eas…

The ARKYD Kickstarter can be found here: http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1…

The wiki article for this episode can be found here: http://wiki.spacevidcast.com/en/6.17

In Space News we have China’s Shenzhou-10 launch and docking, ATV-4 docking, sending your own message to space, Planetary Resources and Congress has no love for NASA asteroid missions.

George Schellenger joins us to talk about his new book and gangs around in After Dark to also talk about Project Blue Pride.

Spacevidcast is a live weekly show all about space and the comsos. Covering major events from NASA, ESA, JAXA, Roscosmos, SpaceX and more, Spacevidcast is your weekly news and views show for every space geek! Tune in live each Saturday at 21:00 UTC / 2:00 pm PDT / 5:00pm EDT and be a part of the community that helps make our live shows amazing. Or simply subscribe to the Spacevidcast channel on YouTube and get your Space Geek on each week!

 

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Jun17

Sci-Tech: KONE UltraRope makes sky-scraping skyscrapers feasible

by TopSpacer on June 17, 2013 at 5:45 pm
Posted In: Science and Technology

KONE Elevators of Finland has developed a super-strong, lightweight carbon fiber based cables that allow for much higher skyscrapers and are the first step towards fibers capable of space elevators: Lifts and skyscrapers: The other mile-high club: A new lightweight lift cable will let buildings soar ever upward – The Economist.

See also KONE UltraRope – The benchmark in high-rise technology and innovation

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Jun17

Videos: Tribute to Carl Sagan with space vistas and the music of Daniel Hope

by TopSpacer on June 17, 2013 at 5:13 pm
Posted In: Space Arts, Space films and videos, Space Music

Brittany Manning points me to her excellent videos of space imagery combined with the words of Carl Sagan and the music of Daniel Hope:

 

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Jun17

The Space Show this week

by TopSpacer on June 17, 2013 at 2:49 pm
Posted In: Activism, SpaceCasts

The Space Show this week:

1. Monday, June 17, 2013, 2-3:30 PM PDT (5-6:30 PM EDT, 4-5:30 PM CDT): We welcome back KEVIN SLOA to discuss & update us on The Mars Society‘s University Rover Challenge for this year.

2. Tuesday, June 18 2013, 7-8:30 PM PDT (10-11:30 PM EDT, 9-10:30 PM CDT): BRYCE RUSS is with us for a Yuri’s Night Wrap-up.

3. Friday, June 21, 2013, 9:30-11 AM PDT (11:30- 1 PM CDT, 12:30PM-2:00 PM EDT): We welcome ROB KELSO, Executive Director of the Pacific International Space Center for Exploration Systems (PISCES).

4. Sunday, June 23, 2013, 12-1:30 PM PDT (3-4:30 PM EDT, 2-3:30 PM CDT). We welcome Dr Gil Levin from the Mars Viking Project and Arizona State.

See also:
/– The Space Show on Vimeo – webinar videos
/– The Space Show’s Blog – summaries of interviews.
/– The Space Show Classroom Blog – tutorial programs

The Space Show is a project of the One Giant Leap Foundation.

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Jun17

Copenhagen Suborbitals: Sapphire rocket video

by TopSpacer on June 17, 2013 at 2:40 pm
Posted In: DIY space, Rockets

Copenhagen Suborbitals posts a new video about their Sapphire guided rocket, which they plan to launch soon.

Caption;

The Sapphire team explains how the rocket is built and share details about the mission. Sapphire is Copenhagen Suborbitals first attempt to launch a active guided rocket.

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Jun17

Carnival of Space #306 – Urban Astronomer

by TopSpacer on June 17, 2013 at 2:12 pm
Posted In: General

Urban Astronomer hosts the latest Carnival of Space.

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Jun17

The next-gen Teachers in Space

by TopSpacer on June 17, 2013 at 5:51 am
Posted In: Education, Space participation, Spaceflight & Parabolic Flight

Ed Wright of Citizens in Space gives the background to various programs aimed at sending teachers and other educators into space and lays out his organization’s plans for the future: Teachers in Space: The Next Generation – CitizensInSpace.org.

Citizens in Space continues to expand and grow. We have not abandoned the original goals of Teachers in Space, nor have we “split” the program or transferred any part of the program to another organization. We still hope to enable a large number of teachers to fly in space and return to the classroom, along with people from every walk of life.

There are other organizations that have the goal of flying teachers in space. The Challenger Center for Space Science Education has acquired two seats on a Virgin Galactic flight for teachers. Virgin Galactic has also donated a seat to the Royal Air Force for a British teacher. So far, however, we are the only organization that has purchased a significant block of flights and initiated a training program for citizen astronauts. We hope we will not be alone much longer. Regardless of what other organizations do, however, our path is clear. As President Reagan said, our hopes and journeys will continue.

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Jun17

Sci-Tech: Storing hydrogen in reusable plastic pellets

by TopSpacer on June 17, 2013 at 5:25 am
Posted In: Science and Technology, Space Systems

Dr. Stephen Perusich, Senior Scientist at Cella Energy, talks about the firm’s hydrogen storage technology: New Hydrogen Pellets Allow Better Fuel Storage and Radiation Protection – SpaceSafetyMagazine.com

 

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Jun17

Rock found in Massachusetts is Russian spacecraft debris

by TopSpacer on June 17, 2013 at 5:18 am
Posted In: History, Space Collecting

A Massachusetts man found a rock by a river near his house that turned out to be ballast from a Soviet/Russian spacecraft, possibly the Mir space station:

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