So where exactly is Voyager 1 with respect to the Solar System?

A reader points to this discussion of where the Voyager 1 spacecraft is with respect to our solar system, the heliosphere , the Oort cloud, and interstellar space, a topic on which recent reports may have left some people confused:  What’s the deal with Voyager 1? – The Maddow Blog

Has Voyager 1 left the solar system? from The Rachel Maddow Show on Vimeo.

 This plot is particularly helpful:

This artist's concept shows NASA's Voyager spacecraft against a backdrop of stars.
You Are Here, Voyager: This artist’s concept puts huge solar system distances in
perspective. The scale bar is measured in astronomical units (AU), with each set
distance
beyond 1 AU representing 10 times the previous distance. Each AU is equal to
the 
distance from the sun to the Earth. It took from 1977 to 2013 for Voyager 1 to reach
the edge of interstellar space. Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

 

The Rocket Company: Chapters 19-22

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 or so. 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.

Video: SciShow and “The Ingredients for Life in Space”

Hank Green of the SciShow talks about

the latest developments in space research and the search for life, including the discovery that amino acids may be more common than we thought throughout the solar system, and the latest findings from the Mars Curiosity rover.

Like SciShow? Want to help support us, and also get things to put on your walls, cover your torso and hold your liquids? Check out our awesome products over at DFTBA Records: http://dftba.com/artist/52/SciShow

A beautiful shot of a missile in the night

Anthony Galván III sends the following text and photo for a missile launch this morning at Vandenberg Air Force Base. (BTW, the first launch of the SpaceX Falcon 9 v1.1 had to wait 2 weeks for another launch window due to the fact the Western Range switched to these missile tests after SpaceX missed its first window.)

A LGM-30Minuteman rocket, also known as a Minuteman III, was successfully launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base Sunday morning, September 22, 2013, at 3:01 PDT. The test launch is one of several launches scheduled for the west coast base this month.

Under a full moon, the rocket lifted off from Launch-Facility 10 (LF-10) which is Minuteman rocket launch silo complex at Vandenberg.

Minuteman3-9-22-2013 Minuteman III Launch as seen from Goleta, California.
Photo credit: © Anthony Galván III.

The Minuteman III is a land-based intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), designed to deliver nuclear warheads. Currently it is the only land-based ICBM in service in the United States. Each missile carries three nuclear warheads, which have a yield in the range of 300 to 500 kilotons.

The letter “L” in “LGM” indicates that the missile is silo-launched; the “G” indicates that it is designed to attack ground targets; the “M” indicates that it is a guided missile.[1]

The ICBM was named Minuteman after the Revolutionary War’s Minutemen who were able to respond quickly to a threat in the late 1770s. The missile can be prepared and launched in minutes after a valid launch order has been issued and plans are to keep the missile in service until 2030.

There are currently 450 Minuteman III missiles in silos located in Montana, North Dakota and Wyoming.