More Comet PanSTARRS eye candy with time-lapse videos of it with the Moon in view: Beautiful Time-Lapse Videos Show Comet Flying Near Crescent Moon – Wired Science/Wired.com
I especially like this one:
Comet Pan-Starrs Moonset from Dan Finnerty on Vimeo.
The latest presentation to the Future In-Space Operations (FISO) study group is now posted in the FISO Working Group Presentations Archive. Both slides (pdf) and audio (mp3) are available for the talk, Reducing the Cost of Exploration using Near-Term Advanced In-Space Propulsion – Roger Myers, Aerojet – March 13, 2013.
A key part of the proposal is to use slow but highly efficient solar electric propulsion (SEP) systems for cargo and faster but a lot less efficient high thrust chemical (e.g. LOX/LH2) propulsion for crews.
NASA could save money if it could close unused or under-utilized facilities: NASA official says closing unused facilities could help save money – Texas on the Potomac/Houston Chronicle.
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Travel limits and other cutbacks are in store for NASA as it deals with the sequestration cuts: NASA Releases New Policy Guidance to Respond to Sequestration–UPDATE – spacepolicyonline.com
Bob Zimmerman comments: NASA has clamped down on travel expenses, reducing it by 30 percent in the past year. – Behind The Black.
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Irene Klotz reports on the restart of production of plutonium, which NASA needs for its unmanned space probes: U.S. Starts Making Plutonium – Discovery News
DIY space suit builder Cameron M. Smith, who recently partnered with Copenhagen Suborbitals, writes about the lessons he has learned in making pressure suits: How To Build Your Own Functional Pressure Suit – Guest Blog by Dr. Cameron Smith – Wired Science/Wired.com.
Neil deGrasse Tyson decries the lack of action in dealing with the threat of asteroids and comets despite the overwhelming evidence, even before the Chelyabinsk event, of the devastation the impacts of such objects can have to life on earth: