Category: Sciency things

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No reprieve for Hubble Space Telescope

Well, this is disappointing. The BBC article (via Slashdot) reports NASA has decided Hubble is doomed to fall back to earth. No servicing mission to fix Hubble’s gyroscopes, no possibility of carting it back to display in a museum. NASA’s deemed a Hubble mission as too unsafe.
From the article,

Readdy, a former shuttle astronaut, said Nasa had already analysed the question of whether to send astronauts to fix Hubble, and determined that it was unsafe.
He added that Hubble offers no “safe haven” for astronauts seeking refuge from a damaged shuttle, while the ISS does.

Well, at least there’s still Herschel and the James Webb Telescope to look forward to..

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Comet and Galaxy conjunction

APOD had a very cool photo yesterday showing the near conjunction of the Andromeda galaxy and Comet Ikeya-Zhang. More of the photographer’s very cool pictures can be seen at http://www.skylook.net.

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Back to the moon

Hmm, so President Bush wants to go back to the moon. While I am cautiously optimistic about renewed NASA funding, especially in light of the significant budget cuts NASA has experienced over the past decade, I’m still a little skeptical about Bush’s vision, especially considering this is an election year. Along with his immigrant worker proposal, it just smacks of political pandering to the masses to me. But in any case, more funding for NASA is always a good thing.
I know we’ve been to the moon before, but considering how we can hardly keep a space station in Earth orbit, I can’t see a moon base coming in my lifetime. I’ll be very happy to be proven wrong though.
Personally, I would like to see ISS construction and expansion continue with more support and participation from other countries, with the goal of using it as a launching pad for missions to the moon and Mars. Make ISS and future lunar and planetary missions a truly global effort.

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2003 Chart of the Nuclides

One of the coolest things (at least I thought so) I’ve ever had decorating my wall was a 3’x5′ Chart of the Nuclides poster from 1976 or so. I had it posted on the wall above my desk, so that every time I looked up I could check out a different element. It was big, and packed a ton of information about each element into each box. It also doubled as a place for me to post Sticky notes. Had to leave it at home when I moved to the US, and I’ve been missing it ever since.

Just heard that the 2003 16th edition of the chart is now available for a really decent price. Only $25 for the wall chart or the book (the book is only $15 if you’re a student).

Think I’ll have to go place an order…

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Stunning example of retrograde motion

More pretty pictures to look at from APOD.

This is a stunning image of retrograde motion of not one planet, but two planets!. Both Mars and Uranus are shown going through their motions.