Category Archives: Space participation

Activism, History, Space participation

Share the Apollo 11 anniversary at #Apollo45

Buzz Aldrin is leading an effort to involve the public in the 45th anniversary of the Apollo 11 landing on July 20th. The social media campaign that will be based on the YouTube Channel, #Apollo45.

This is a channel where you can share your story, your parents’, your grandparents’, or your friends’ stories of that moment and how it inspires you, with Buzz and everyone who tunes in.

We will also feature new videos from astronauts, public figures and celebrities, who share their memories and congratulate the crew for this historic event, from July 10th through to the Anniversary on July 20th.
YouTube, Google, Angry Birds, NASA,Space.com, celebrities, notable figures and people like you are all joining in the promotion and celebration on their own social channels using #Apollo45.

More at

And here is a MSNBC video:
[]

Education, Space camps & hands on sims, Space participation

“Maker Camp” virtual summer camp is now open

 Maker Camp opened today at MAKE Google+:

Maker Camp (from Google+ and MAKE Magazine) is back for the third annual six-week virtual summer camp for quirky tinkering, building and fun STEM projects. Everyday at 11am PT/2pm ET until August 15, millions of folks (especially teenagers!) around the world will hang out live on Maker Camp’s Google+ page for 30 DIY projects (think building glowing bikes, stroboscopes, and taking field trips to NASA, Lego and Cartoon Network studios).

This afternoon we’ll be kicking off with a field trip to NASA Goddard Space Flight Center with legendary astronaut Buzz Aldrin. Campers will go behind the scenes to check out the James Webb Space Telescope being assembled live! Afterward, campers will learn how to build milk jug rocket launchers and soda bottle rocket LED fireworks.

Campers can log in to the MAKE Google+ and follow along with that day’s project, ask questions and engage with members of the MAKE community. Also check out the official Maker Camp website for all the details on our kickoff week.

Update: Here is a video of today’s session: Maker Camp: Blasting Off with Buzz Aldrin and NASA

DIY space, Rockets, Space participation

Copenhagen Suborbitals update

According to this recent report from Copenhagen Suborbitals, the big HEAT-2X rocket won’t fly this year: HEAT-2X and then what?  – Copenhagen Suborbitals.

HEAT-2X rocket

Astronomy, Exoplanets, Space participation

Planet Hunters citizen science paper reports on 14 new planet candidates

Another paper based on analysis done by citizen scientist contributors to the Planet Hunters program has been accepted by a scientific journal: Latest Science Paper Accepted for Publication: The First Kepler Seven Planet Candidate System and 13 Other Planet Candidates from the Kepler Archival Data – Planet Hunters

We at Planet Hunters are happy to announce the acceptance of the PHVI paper to the Astronomical Journal, in which 14 new planet candidates were discovered. All of these new planet candidates are located far from their host stars. In fact, seven of them lie in their host star’s habitable zone. Unfortunately, all of these planets are too large to be Earth-like.

Two of the new planet candidates are in multiple candidate systems. One of them, the new candidate orbiting KOI-351, is the seventh planet candidate orbiting its host star. Planet Hunters actually detected three new candidates around this star when KOI-351 was only known to have three candidates, showing how great the Planet Hunters can be in discovering multiple planet systems. The planets in KOI-351 also show strong gravitational interactions between the planets, which helps to confirm them as true planets. The gravity from some planets in the system causes other planets to transit before or after what we would otherwise expect, called transit timing variations. In fact, the second-to-last planet transited a full day after we expected it would. Others in the exoplanet field have been working for over a year to determine the masses of these planets.

The paper and contributors to the project:

Space Models, Space participation

Precision Aerospace Replicas

Dave Gianakos, a long-time modeler of aerospace systems, tells me that he

is retiring from his “day job” as an airline pilot of 36 years and starting up a new modeling company called Precision Aerospace Replicas. He can build most any type of subject requested by the customer, in most any size, and at a reasonable price. He is currently doing  two large satellite projects for the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum. He can also do a masterful job on plastic model kits and customizing them to the customer’s desired look.  Please take a look at his new website: http://precisionaerospacereplicas.com/

dave_gianakos_and-saturn-v-model

—–

Find more aerospace model info and links in the HobbySpace Modeling section.