NASA To Announce Node Name on Colbert Report

Posted by Sheila Franklin Categories: Science

Remember how we told you to vote Colbert for the new ISS node? They may not select his name for the capsule, but NASA got so much hype that Expedition 14 and 15 astronaut Sunita “Suni” Williams is going to announce the winner on the show. Colbert had this to say about the hoopla surrounding his nomination, “I certainly hope NASA does the right thing. Just kidding, I hope they name it after me.”

More than a million entries were received in total. Tune in to Comedy Central tonight at 11:30 p.m. EDT for the results.

Read More | Information Week

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Charles Going Back to Space

Posted by Sheila Franklin Categories: Science, Transportation

Lucky Charles Simonyi is going back into space March 26, the first private citizen to make a return trip. He will conduct a series of experiments as well as communicate with students via HAM radio on the ISS (ARISS) during the 12 day trek. We first mentioned him back in 2007 and now, like then, he will continue to blog from his website and feature live video and audio content from NASA TV in his “Follow the Updates” section. Although the second flight is undoubtedly still costing him a fortune, we expect he will reuse his suit.

Read More | Charles in Space

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Endeavor Comes Home

Posted by Sheila Franklin Categories: Science, Transportation

The Endeavor finally made it back home to NASA’s spaceport Friday. Forced to take a detour when coming home Nov. 30 because of a nasty storm at Kennedy Space Center, it ended up at California’s Edwards Air Force Base where it met up with more bad weather. The space shuttle was finally attached to the top of a modified jumbo jet to make the flight back. The trek cost a whopping $1.8 million. For that amount of money, we think it should have retired in (mostly) sunny California.

Read More | USA Today

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Space Barley Taste Testing Parties

Posted by Sheila Franklin Categories: Science, Transportation

Space Barley is finally ready for humans. The grain was kept aboard the ISS for 5 months in 2006 and the beer was made from barley that descended from that batch. The Japanese company Sapporo provided the original seeds that eventually produced 100 liters and will be holding tasting parties at their six factories in January. About 60 people will be selected by lottery to attend the event. The project was designed to come up with a new type of barley that can grow in harsh environments on our planet.

Read More | Mainichi News

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Richard Garriott Re-Enters Earth

Posted by Sheila Franklin Categories: Science, Transportation

Richard Garriott landed in a Soyuz capsule in Kazastan Friday with 2 cosmonauts after a fun 10 day trip to the ISS. Garriott, who followed in his father Owen’s footsteps, deemed the trip a success. “What a great ride that was,” said Garriott “This is obviously a pinnacle experience.”

The space tourist earned part of the $30 million ticket by testing a watch in microgravity (we wonder if it was a Timex) and conducting an experiment for a biotech company.

Read More | CNN

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NASA Announces End Date of Space Shuttle

Posted by Sheila Franklin Categories: Misc. Tech, Science, Transportation

NASA has announced that the final flight of their shuttles will be May 31, 2010. It will be carrying spare parts for the ISS. One of the flights before that time will be taking up the 1.8 ton Cupola, a European-built structure that gives astronauts a 360º view of space. Going up December 10, 2009, the space agency believes that this will be an incredible outlet for pictures. Once the shuttle has been retired, European and Japanese ATVs and Russian Progress crafts will be doing all the flying. And there will always be the commercial vehicles for taking billionaires into the final frontier.

Read More | BBC

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Sapparo Space Beer

Posted by Sheila Franklin Categories: Science, Transportation

This week, the Japanese brewing company Sapporo Holdings announced that it was creating a new “space beer.” They will be using the third generation of barley grain that had been stored on the ISS in 2006 for five months. Okayama University biologist Manabu Sugimoto, who teamed with Sapporo, claims that humans may have to grow their own food on extended space missions. While there is enough grain to make about 100 bottles, there are no plans to market it. We expect to see it on eBay by its due date in November.

Read More | Yahoo News

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Boomerang Comes Back in Space

Posted by Sheila Franklin Categories: Misc. Tech, Science, Transportation

Good news for those of you who couldn’t wait to find out if a boomerang bounces back in space. According to astronaut Takao Doi, it does indeed. Chatting to his wife from the ISS, he confided that he was surprised but that it worked the same there as it does on the planet. Although there is no video evidence as yet, NASA says they will release some at a later date. Uh-huh. This reminds us of a “scare” many years back when skeptics of the space race claimed that we never made it to the moon and that it was simply faked on a movie set.

Read More | Digital Journal

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ZFlyer Takes Off

Posted by Sheila Franklin Categories: Misc. Tech, Toys, Transportation, Videos

With all that fuss about the recent Endeavor launch, we just couldn’t resist this ZFlyer Hand Command. This astronaut is no ordinary toy. You can lead it around since it has stabilizing rotors and sensors. It will then recharge on its base unit in 10 minutes for another 7 minute flight. We don’t know if it will make it all the way up to the Space Station, but maybe it will meet the returning paper airplane half way. The ZFlyer will become available March 30 and you can pre-order for £17.99 (~$36.00.)

Read More | Toyology

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Dextre Gets a Bumpy Ride

Posted by Sheila Franklin Categories: Design, Misc. Tech, Science, Transportation

When we last told you about Dextre, he was about to be launched to the ISS via Endeavor. It seems that all did not go well with the bot, who decided to sleep in a bit longer. It turns out that a cable design flaw wouldn’t allow power to turn him on. The astronauts finally got him up and running, then attached his hands to his arms and his arms to his torso. No one is sure yet about the reason for the dilemma since it wasn’t apparent in pre-flight testing, but NASA promises a thorough investigation.

Read More | USA Today

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