Category Archives: Spaceflight & Parabolic Flight

History, Spaceflight & Parabolic Flight

Nova program about Neil Armstrong

The PBS Nova science program is presenting a show tonight (9:00 pm ET) about Neil Armstrong: First Man on the Moon –

Everyone knows Neil Armstrong was the first to set foot on the moon. But this modest and unassuming man was determined to stay out of the spotlight. Now, for the first time, NOVA presents an intimate portrait of Armstrong through interviews with his family and friends, many of whom have never spoken publicly before. Discover and relive Armstrong’s achievements before and after Apollo, from his time as a Navy combat veteran and later as a pioneer of high-speed flight to his leading role in the inquiry into the Challenger disaster and his efforts to encourage young people to take to the skies. Along the way, we learn how Armstrong’s life became the inspiring story of heroic risk-taking and humble dedication that ultimately advanced humanity’s adventure in space.

Living in Space, Spaceflight & Parabolic Flight

“Away” a year from earth [Update]

David Granger at Esquire Magazine sent me a copy of the nicely written article Away (payment required) by Chris Jones that is in the December print issue. It’s about astronaut Scott Kelly and his upcoming one year mission on the International Space Station. All previous stays by US astronauts have been for six months or less.

The goal of the mission is to study effects on the human body in weightlessness for a mission of a length similar to that of a trip to Mars. After Scott returns to earth, his condition will be compared to that of his twin brother Mark Kelly, a former astronaut himself.

Find more about the program at

[ Update: Here is another article about the 1 year: With An Eye To Mars, NASA is Testing its Astronaut Twins: Scott and Mark Kelly, the only twins to have traveled in space, are embarking on a mission to help NASA prepare for Mars – Smithsonian. ]

Here is an interview with Scott Kelly about the mission:

General, Space Science, Spaceflight & Parabolic Flight

Virtual SpaceTV 3D – October/November 2014

Here is the latest episode of The Virtual SpaceTV 3D show with Amanda Bush. The programs are created by BINARY SPACE (www.binary-space.com) with story content from HobbySpace.com.

In this show, Amanda Bush talks about the following topics:
01:16 – 04:56 Virgin Galactic spaceplane suffers accident
04:57 – 07:02 Orbital Sciences Antares rocket explodes
07:03 – 08:18 Not all disasters
08:19 – 09:05 Rosetta to deploy comet lander
09:06 – 10:18 China and a private company fly around the Moon

Previous Virtual SpaceTV 3D shows are available on the  HobbySpace Youtube Channel.

These videos are intended as educational programs and as demonstrations of an experimental technique for generating animated presentations. The show was generated autonomously by software according to a text script. The project is described in the Virtual Producer whitepaper (Release 1.1, Oct.2013, pdf). For further information contact info@binary-space.com.