"Gooooood morning, Discovery!" Robin Williams provided this wake-up call to NASA's 1988 STS-26 "return to flight" mission after the loss of Space Shuttle Challenger.
Tuesday, August 12, 2014
Tuesday, August 5, 2014
Neil deGrasse Tyson Forges A Wormhole & Talks with Curiosity
On August 5, 2012 we bit our nails and held our breath in the midst of the sheer terror/joy as NASA's Curiosity rover landed on Mars via a ROCKET-POWERED SKY CRANE.
The night before landing, however, Neil deGrasse Tyson and the Curiosity Rover shared an EPIC conversation over Twitter:
The night before landing, however, Neil deGrasse Tyson and the Curiosity Rover shared an EPIC conversation over Twitter:
Feeling the tug of Mars: Fewer than 34 hours to go, Mars' gravity is pulling me in for a suspenseful landing http://t.co/hsDLEW4l
— Curiosity Rover (@MarsCuriosity) August 4, 2012
Call me, maybe? All the ways I could phone home after landing on Mars [video] http://t.co/IiqrN6LW
— Curiosity Rover (@MarsCuriosity) August 4, 2012
When I land on Mars, it'll be 5:31 UTC Aug. 6. See this handy chart for conversion to your time zone: http://t.co/7zJ6Z2vw
— Curiosity Rover (@MarsCuriosity) August 4, 2012
Mars on my mind...Thinking of forging a wormhole through the Twitterverse and having a conversation with the Rover en route.
— Neil deGrasse Tyson (@neiltyson) August 4, 2012
The day we stop exploring is the day we commit ourselves to live in a stagnant world, devoid of curiosity, empty of dreams.
— Neil deGrasse Tyson (@neiltyson) August 4, 2012
Dear @MarsCuriosity, Neil deGrasse Tyson here on Earth, tweeting you, via a wormhole, through deep space. Do you copy?
— Neil deGrasse Tyson (@neiltyson) August 4, 2012
<wormhole actived!> Dear @neiltyson I read you loud and clear. 5x5
— Curiosity Rover (@MarsCuriosity) August 4, 2012
Dear @MarsCuriosity, How does it feel out there as you near planet Mars? Are you Cold? Hot? Or just right?
— Neil deGrasse Tyson (@neiltyson) August 4, 2012
Dear @neiltyson, I'm snug as a bug in a backshell. My MMRTG gives power & heat. So much so, I use radiators to keep temps just right
— Curiosity Rover (@MarsCuriosity) August 4, 2012
Dear @MarsCuriosity, What exactly is giving power to your Radioisotope Thermoelectric Generator?
— Neil deGrasse Tyson (@neiltyson) August 4, 2012
Dear @neiltyson, MMRTG is powered by plutonium-238. I use thermocouples to convert heat from its natural decay to electric current
— Curiosity Rover (@MarsCuriosity) August 4, 2012
Dear @MarsCuriosity, just as I suspected. An element named after Pluto. Discovered when everyone thought the little iceball was a planet.
— Neil deGrasse Tyson (@neiltyson) August 4, 2012
Dear @neiltyson, for being millions of miles away it's faster than say... some TV broadcasts from London to Los Angeles ;-)
— Curiosity Rover (@MarsCuriosity) August 4, 2012
Dear @MarsCuriosity, What's the size of your landing spot on Mars? Is it small? It's a whole planet, I'd be happy just to land anywhere.
— Neil deGrasse Tyson (@neiltyson) August 4, 2012
Dear @neiltyson, target area is 12 miles x 4 miles, right next door to some of Mars' most intriguing rocks & soil
— Curiosity Rover (@MarsCuriosity) August 4, 2012
Dear @MarsCuriosity, Wait a minute. You travelled a 100-million miles in space & hit an area 12x4 miles? Cool. Way better than a hole-in-one
— Neil deGrasse Tyson (@neiltyson) August 4, 2012
Dear @MarsCuriosity, You call EDL 7-minutes of terror. Sure, to you. But to us on Earth, it's 7 minutes + 15 minutes signal time.
— Neil deGrasse Tyson (@neiltyson) August 4, 2012
Dear @MarsCuriosity, Are all your parts working as they should? Anything you're not telling us back here on Earth? (I won't tell JPL.)
— Neil deGrasse Tyson (@neiltyson) August 4, 2012
Dear @neiltyson, all that's been checked out, checks out. Got a lot of calibrations & checkouts to do once I'm on the surface
— Curiosity Rover (@MarsCuriosity) August 4, 2012
Dear @MarsCuriosity, You've been traveling for nine months. How did you pass your time? Did they let you play "Angry Birds Space"?
— Neil deGrasse Tyson (@neiltyson) August 4, 2012
Dear @neiltyson, epic game of "I Spy," lots of Bowie. Well, that and science. I took radiation readings with my RAD instrument
— Curiosity Rover (@MarsCuriosity) August 4, 2012
Dear @MarsCuriosity, So you're being subjected to ionizing radiation from space? You're not only a robot, you're a guinea pig.
— Neil deGrasse Tyson (@neiltyson) August 4, 2012
Dear @MarsCuriosity, Did you enjoy long periods of silence while travelling through space, or was JPL always trying to talk to you?
— Neil deGrasse Tyson (@neiltyson) August 4, 2012
Dear @neiltyson, They respected my space (ha ha). I love hearing from the Deep Space Network, tho. It keeps me grounded
— Curiosity Rover (@MarsCuriosity) August 4, 2012
Dear @MarsCuriosity, How autonomous are you? When you get to Mars can you just go six-wheeling around as you please?
— Neil deGrasse Tyson (@neiltyson) August 4, 2012
Dear @neiltyson, while I can do short autonomous drives, longer sequences are sent by the team. Wonder if they'll let me do donuts?
— Curiosity Rover (@MarsCuriosity) August 4, 2012
Dear @MarsCuriosity, What's your favorite experiment that you will conduct on Mars? Or is that like picking your favorite child?
— Neil deGrasse Tyson (@neiltyson) August 4, 2012
Dear @neiltyson, Pick between sniffing Mars with SAM, digesting soil with Chemin or zapping rocks with ChemCam?? #TooMuchAwesome
— Curiosity Rover (@MarsCuriosity) August 4, 2012
Dear @MarsCuriosity, Scientists conceived you, engineers designed you. But seriously, who do you like better, Scientists or Engineers?
— Neil deGrasse Tyson (@neiltyson) August 4, 2012
Dear @neiltyson, Scientists v Engineers? I'm staying out of that one. We've all gotta work together for a lonnnng time
— Curiosity Rover (@MarsCuriosity) August 4, 2012
Dear @MarsCuriosity, After you land on Mars, what's your life expectancy? (I hope somebody alerted you that we're not bringing you back.)
— Neil deGrasse Tyson (@neiltyson) August 4, 2012
''
Dear @neiltyson, My warranty is 1 Martian year (23 Earth months). @MarsRovers were designed for 90-day missions... #8yearslater
— Curiosity Rover (@MarsCuriosity) August 4, 2012
Dear @MarsCuriosity, You're the size of an SUV, but with six wheels. What's the fastest that you can move?
— Neil deGrasse Tyson (@neiltyson) August 4, 2012
Dear @neiltyson, Top speed = 1.5 inches/sec on flat, hard ground. I'm not out to set Mars land speed records. I brake for science
— Curiosity Rover (@MarsCuriosity) August 4, 2012
Dear @MarsCuriosity, Bummer. You travel through space at seven miles per second, only to drive around on Mars at 1.5 inches per second.
— Neil deGrasse Tyson (@neiltyson) August 4, 2012
Dear @MarsCuriosity, What are your instructions if a Martian crawls onto your back and rides you like a Rodeo Bull?
— Neil deGrasse Tyson (@neiltyson) August 4, 2012
Dear @neiltyson, Martians? RODEO BULL? That wasn't in the briefing. But you never know what you'll find on a mission of discovery
— Curiosity Rover (@MarsCuriosity) August 4, 2012
Dear @MarsCuriosity, We've got the #Olympics back here on Earth. But many of us will be focussed on you and your landing. Do us proud.
— Neil deGrasse Tyson (@neiltyson) August 4, 2012
Dear @MarsCuriosity, As for your complicated landing on Mars Sunday night 10:30pm PT -- do not try, do.
— Neil deGrasse Tyson (@neiltyson) August 4, 2012
Dear @MarsCuriosity, Neil deGrasse Tyson signing out on Earth. Back to work - for us both. Closing my Twitterverse wormhole to Mars.
— Neil deGrasse Tyson (@neiltyson) August 4, 2012
Dear @neiltyson, I've got @NASAJPL on the other line. Back to work indeed. This was fun :D <wormhole deactivated>
— Curiosity Rover (@MarsCuriosity) August 4, 2012
Once again, I am compelled to tweet…
— Neil deGrasse Tyson (@neiltyson) August 4, 2012
The day we stop exploring is the day we commit ourselves to live in a stagnant world, devoid of curiosity, empty of dreams.
— Neil deGrasse Tyson (@neiltyson) August 4, 2012
Sunday, August 3, 2014
Apollo 13: Grumman Sends Rockwell "Towing Bill"
Due to the incredible ingenuity of the astronauts and the crew on the ground, Apollo 13 was brought back safely and the mission has since been called a “successful failure.”
Afterward, the engineers at Grumman Aerospace Corporation, builder of the mission's Lunar Landing Module prepared a tongue-in-cheek "Towing Bill" addressed to Rockwell, builders of the crippled CSM.
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| Copy of the Towing Bill -- Click to Enlarge |
- Towing, $4.00 first mile, $1.00 each additional mile, Trouble call, fast service.
- Battery Charge (road call + $.05KWH) customer’s jumper cables
- oxygen at $10.00/lb
- sleeping accommodations for 2, no TV, prepaid air-conditioned, with radio, modified American plan, with view (contract NAS-9-1100)
- Additional guest in room at $8.00/night. (1) Check out no later than noon Fri. 4/17/70, accommodations not guaranteed beyond that time
- water (no charge)
- Personalized “trip-tik”, including all no charge transfers, baggage handling, and gratuities
= $312,421.24 (after allowing a 20% early payment discount and a 2% cash discount).
Monday, July 28, 2014
The 'Top Secret' Astronaut You've Never Heard Of: Walter Frisbee
The second class of astronauts chosen by NASA, 'The New Nine', may have in fact been the 'Top Secret Ten'. At least that's what Jim Lovell and Pete Conrad wanted the Press Corps to think.
The two pranksters would intentionally let members of the press overhear them speak about Walter Frisbee, a top secret astronaut with wildly incredible talents that NASA wanted to keep hush, hush. Was he the son of a Romanian nobleman? Maybe. Was he the most fearless, talented test pilot that ever took to the skies? Definitely.
The other members of The New Nine got on-board with the joke and as reporters quizzed each one about Frisbee they'd acknowledge his existence, excuse his absence due to his mysterious, extraordinary training and say nothing else. Rumor has it the press actually started writing about Fearless Frisbee in the papers and that's when NASA pulled the plug on this little prank.
[Within the last few years an account on Twitter, Astro_Walt, has popped up with the simple bio, "Pilot and astronaut, retired." Who knows, maybe it wasn't a prank after all....]
Saturday, July 26, 2014
Chris Hadfield, Buzz Aldrin & Starfleet Win the Internet
On January 3, 2013, William Shatner (Captain Kirk) began a series of what is quite possibly the most epic conversation ever when he asked astronaut Chris Hadfield (who was then living aboard the International Space Station) via Twitter: "Are you tweeting from space? MBB."
Fellow Star Trek cast members promptly joined in, as well as the one and only Buzz Aldrin. January 3, 2013 -- the day the internet was officially won.
Wednesday, June 18, 2014
Female Stowaway on Skylab
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| Skylab as SL2 mission departs |
"On September 10, 1973, controllers in Houston were startled to hear a woman's voice beaming down from Skylab. Using a sexy tone of voice and calling startled Capsule Communicator Bob Crippen by name, the woman explained: "The boys haven't had a home-cooked meal in so long I thought I'd bring one up." After several minutes in which she described forest fires seen from space and the beautiful sunrise, the woman said: "Oh oh. I have to cut off now. I think the boys are floating up here toward the command module and I'm not supposed to be talking to you." As the Skylab crew subsequently revealed, Garriott had recorded his wife Helen during a private radio transmission the night before."
Saturday, May 31, 2014
Apollo 10 Crew Finds Floating Turds
Though Apollo 10 was a very successful mission, a declassified NASA transcript reveals that Tom Stafford, John Young and Gene Cernan had a little stinky situation arise. It's okay to laugh -- even professional, highly trained, space-exploring astronauts think poop is funny.... It was literally all shits & giggles on Day 6 of their mission when they discovered some floating feces inside their capsule.
CDR: Tom Stafford CMP: John Young LMP: Gene Cernan
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