Posts tagged: space
Happy Birthday, NASA!
50 years ago today, The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) was established by the National Aeronautics and Space Act.
NASA began operations on October 1, 1958, with a staff of 80 spread among four laboratories. The agency now consists of 15 facilities that employed more than 17,000 people in 2006.
Happy birthday, NASA! I wish you all the best in the years and missions to come.
A Reasonable Alien Discussion
After Apollo 14 astronaut Ed Mitchell went on record as believing in alien visitations to Earth, its nice to know our other astronauts have not lost the ability to think rationally. Mark Kelly, the U.S. commander of space shuttle Discovery, briefly discussed the topic during a Tokyo news conference.
We have seen some evidence that there is a possibility of some life on Mars in the past, so there is probably life all over the universe.
From our experience, it is very difficult to travel through space, and I personally think aliens have not visited our planet.
The Discovery recently delivered Japan’s Kibo orbital laboratory to the International Space Station in June.
Via: Reuters
Objects in Space (edit)
While putting the finishing touches on Moments, I’ve been working on some themed generative music that will become my next album. The album is all about astronomy. One of the things I love about astronomy is the humbling notion of being a fragile, non-important object floating around amidst many other inconspicuous objects. I kind of puts you in your place. It shows you that there is nothing incredibly special about your place in the universe and that it’s up to you to make your life special. I’m reminded by something Carl Sagan said in The Pale Blue Dot:
It has been said that astronomy is a humbling and character-building experience. There is perhaps no better demonstration of the folly of human conceits than this distant image of our tiny world. To me, it underscores our responsibility to deal more kindly with one another, and to preserve and cherish the pale blue dot, the only home we’ve ever known.
I’ve been very influenced by Brian Eno’s 77 Million Paintings and taking that approach into my music writing. I’m trying to write a lot of music that isn’t necessarily constrained by time. There’s no defined opening bit or middle bit or ending bit. I want to approach the songs as if they’ve always been playing and I’m just now tuning in. The songs never end. You just sort of tune in from time to time and listen to what they’re doing at that particular moment. I’m very interested in that.
This particular piece is a 4 minute edit of the 12 minute album version of a song for my next album Background Music 2 (Music for Stargazing).
One Minute And Seventeen Seconds
Mechas On The Moon
Those giant human-carrying robots of science fiction may soon become science fact.
NASA engineers are testing out a giant, six-legged robot that could pick up and move a future Moon base thousands of kilometres across the lunar surface, allowing astronauts to explore much more than just the area around their landing site.
This massive robot called ATHLETE (All-Terrain Hex-Legged Extra-Terrestrial Explorer) was designed by engineers at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, California, US and is about 7.5 meters wide with each leg more than 6 meters long.
What’s so awesome about this design is the way the legs and wheels work together to address unknown or difficult terrain. The ATHLETE has wheels that can be locked in place mounted as feet on each of its legs. When the terrain is rough or jagged, ATHLETE walks around and over it like a spider. When terrain is more barren and flat, the wheels can be used to make for a smoother journey for the inhabitants of the living courters mounted right on its back.
They don’t transform into humanoid ninjas just yet but throw in a couple laser guns and a missile pack or two and you’re at least halfway there.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Im90efP5hts
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bhZp3pR014g
Via: New Scientist Space
Globular Cluster or Dwarf Galaxy?
Omega Centauri was thought, until recently, to be just another globular cluster (one of hundreds orbiting the Milky Way). New studies using Hubble and Gemini South have found an intermediate mass black hole in its core. This could bump Omega Centauri’s classification from a standard globular cluster to a full blown dwarf galaxy.
Universe Today notes that this discovery could…
[Give] astronomers the best idea yet as to where supermassive black holes come from. Omega Centauri might hold one of the most profound secrets as to how the largest objects in the observable universe are born
Via: Universe Today
