Here’s a list of unusual artifacts on the Moon (and a map of their locations) : There’s a four-leaf clover on the Moon! – Moon Zoo
Video: Sci-fi short film, “Beyond”
The plot is rather opaque but the scenery is terrific in this sci-fi short:
- BEYOND, sci fi short film on Vimeo
- Space exploration goes awry in the beautiful scifi short “Beyond”
BEYOND, sci fi short film from Raphael Rogers on Vimeo.
Space policy roundup – Aug.21.13 [Update]
The latest selection of space policy items:
- Time to Move Beyond “New Space”? – Moonandback
- World space agencies publish roadmap for future space exploration – BIS
- New class of astronauts signals optimism – Charles Bolden/Houston Chronicle
- NASA’s Global Plan for Space Exploration Gets an Upgrade – Space.com
- The promise of the International Space Station (Guest Blog) – Marion Blakey/Washington Business Journal
- Starship Congress: A Very Human Interstellar Journey – Discovery News
Update:
- The White Elephant in NASA’s Living Room – PJ Media – Rand Simberg
- Revised exploration roadmap sees asteroids and Moon as temporary stepping stones to Mars – Space Politics
- [NASA] sells shuttle launch platforms – theguardian.com
- Editorial: Thumbs up, thumbs down – Florida Today
Update 2: A conceptual lunar mission designed by a NASA team uses two SLS launches separated by 6 months and a large lander. It would allow a crew of four to stay a week on the Moon. The high cost of two SLS launches plus a multi-billion dollar lander, however, means such a mission falls far outside expected NASA funding levels: Dual SLS launch campaign required for NASA’s Lunar return – NASASpaceFlight.com.
Update 3: Bob Zimmerman comments on the Global Exploration Roadmap (GER) released yesterday by NASA and other space agencies: Space agencies of the world unite! – Behind The Black
Video: A rocket engine intro
Benjamin Higginbotham at Spacevidcast gives a brief tutorial titled, “How do rocket engines work”
For more detailed tutorials, see:
Video: Recovering 1960s lunar images at McMoon’s
In this Bloomberg BusinessWeek video, Dennis Wingo describes the Lunar Orbiter Image Recovery Project carried out in the old McDonald’s restaurant (renamed McMoon’s) on the NASA Ames Research Center site. The goal is recover images of the surface of the Moon made by the first orbiters in the 1966-67 time frame and recorded on ancient magnetic tapes: Abandoned McDonald’s Holds Glimpse of Life on Moon – Businessweek