Space Tweep Society Founder, Jen Scheer @FlyingJenny,
has won the Shorty Award for Science!
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In "The ITAR Web Whistle" I reviewed one argument for ITAR, and proposed a solution for the internet world of individuals acting in good faith. Perhaps the biggest problem with ITAR is represented by the counter argument, what we don't do because our hands are tied, others will and profit by it. For example, if I can't put an open source LH2/LOX propulsion system on the internet for fear of conflicting with ITAR, then those who can in the rest of the world will profit from the development while I won't. Sure, I can do my own thing in private. But my results will be bounded to about ten or twenty percent with my capabilities tied up in this way -- because I won't be able to work with others in a natural way and will have too much invested in not producing, not sharing and not excelling in the endeavor. This is just an example, of course. No immediate plans for a cryogenic hybrid aerospike engine, or anything like that.
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The Globe at Night activity, measuring light pollution by looking at Orion, is a great activity for you to do with your kids. It only takes 5 minutes IF you prime them a bit. Here's what worked great with me and my kids (aged 7 and 10).
I printed out the "family pack" at Globe at Night and left the 2 pages with 8 star charts on the kitchen counter. I asked my kids to look at them and think about the pattern in the 8 charts, "...but don't tell me yet," because one always talks for the other! |
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Earlier this month I shared with you my thoughts on NASA's new vision and how the new vision could fail. And the weekend before the budget was unveiled I wrote about what I thought NASA should pursue in its future. There has been no shortage of people sharing their thoughts on the FY2011 budget and the revamping of NASA and that is exactly how it should be. People should be heard. To date, the blog post in my opinion that sums things up the best is Changing Horses in Mid Stream. If you haven't read this one yet, it's worth the time. |
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Born in 1919, Robert T. McCall would grow up to be one of the greatest artists to capture the hope and vision of the future. Often Mr. McCall’s brightly lit and somewhat impressionistic style of painting would capture my imagination again and again. I found out today that he passed away. |
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Some of You might have seen my twitter status stating that I have some bad news. I finally can write more about it. You probably don't know what ESMO is, so I'll start with an explanation - ESMO or European Student Moon Orbiter is project led by ESA with - surprise surprise - students from a large number of European best Universities. It so happens that after some very hard work our three best Univs managed to qualify into that project. Contacts have been made, studies are well underway. |
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As the days of the great shuttle program draw to a close I keep thinking about what a great event it would be if there could be a special NASA tweetup for kids at either the last or the next to last shuttle launch. The reasons are obvious, I am sure. We need to make that inspirational imprint on our future, and our future is our youth of today.
Now, I am sure many youngsters from the Florida region have accompanied their parents to shuttle launches; however, I am not certain that they have ever benefited from a full NASA tweetup program. The opportunity for tours and maybe to meet and listen to some of our astronaut heroes as well as witnessing a live launch creates an indelible impression and stimulus. I mentioned this on Twitter and have gotten some positive reactions and recommendations. In all cases the kids, or course, would need to be accompanied by an adult. The kids ideally should be in grades 6-12 with preference for kids in grades 6-8 This latter grouping has the highest promise of serious impact. So how do we do it? Here are some ideas: |
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So, it turns out that there are a lot of SpaceTweeps in and near New York City. With our population density, I guess that shouldn't be surprising, but I often find myself wondering, "Where were you people all of my life?" Our fist mini-tweetup was small but a great success, I think, and I would like to make this a regular thing (as those of you who follow me know).
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It's late at night and I should be working, but the experiment named #YaSTwSStream needs a post. The #spacetweeps are fun and interesting to listen to, so I've started favoriting posts that I see. It's a super convenient tool, and I'm able to keep up with the stream editing with full coverage.
As always, please feel free to send any and all comments to jdp@syntelos.org.
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Whew! The JSC Tweetup is over & I've finally had some time to sit down and collect my thoughts.
It's been a very hectic week, from working STS-130 to the Tweetup to managing to squeeze in a few world domination discussions with @flyingjenny since she was at my house, there wasn't much time to stop and take it all in. I'm very sorry that I couldn't participate on the tour, but such is life and being a Flight Controller for a few years now I've learned that you really can't plan anything, from vacations to family events to holidays to Tweetups, everything's on hold until wheel stop - and then there's another one! For now at least, there's another one. A few other ones. Even though I wasn't able to join the actual tour, I was able to attend the events the night before and the night of the Tweetup. I was very excited to meet everyone who I've been talking to only virtually for almost a year now. Finally, I get to show you what we do! |
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 The first module of the Mir Space Station, known as the Base Block (Core Module), was launched aboard a Proton rocket today in 1986 (February 20th Russian time). The Mere Meaning of Mir |
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