Rocket Science is still Dangerous

With commonplace rocket launches, sometimes we take rocket science for granted. On Tuesday January 30, a Zenit 3SL rocket exploded atop the Odyssey Sea Launch platform in the Pacific Ocean. Aboard the rocket, was a sophisticated telecommunications satellite payload (NSS 8). The condition of the Odyssey, a converted Norwegian oil-drilling platform is unknown as of present.


The disaster reminded the aerospace industry that there's still much to learn and even more for quality control. A committee is being created to review the launch and the conditions of the rocket.

Read more at SpaceFlight Now.

Powerpoints are the C.O.D. for Columbia

Yesterday, at a lecture on the "Presentation of Data and Information", by Yale analytical designer Edward Tufte, an hour was spent talking about how Microsoft Powerpoint killed the presentation of the truth and the truthful display of evidence in regards to space shuttle Columbia's disaster. A group of Boeing engineers were asked to analyze the risk potential of the piece of foam insulation that impacted the Columbia's wing upon takeoff (this was while the crew was up in space carrying out their mission). The slides expressed "significant" danger, but in the way the information laid out in a Powerpoint's hierarchal bullets format, the magnitude of risk was not communicated effectively.

In an essay: "Powerpoint Does Rocket Science–and Better Techniques for Technical Reports", Tufte goes into detail why "significant" information should be presented significantly.

Tufte is a NASA advisor on the presentation of analytical information. The design and presentation of information should reflect our cognitive processes and not be limited by the templates and macros of applications.

[C.O.D. = cause of death]

Funk's up on Threadless

A new way of doing business based on ecommerce and user-generated t-shirt and a democratic voting system, brings great T-shirt designs to life. Threadless has been the quintissential DIY cultural vessel for what the masses like and think are good enough designs that warrant a popular vote of the week. And so of course, there are funky astronauts involved.

Design by Christopher Golebiowski

Banana Art to hang over Texas

No, this isn't a joke: there is an art project to put a high-altitude helium balloon in the shape of a banana into the sky over Texas.

Artist César Saëz and his team are pis already into the engineering design phase to determine exactly how this 300m-long airship will be constructed. They plans to fly it up to 30-50Km around Baja or Sorona, TX, in late 2008.

Is it legal? Is it safe? Does it belong in Texas? These questions remained to be answered, but we can definitely say it is "art".

More at Wired News and at GeostationaryBananaOverTexas.com

Marketing--for the masses?

Bart Leahy discusses the history of promoting space and offers recommendations for engaging the public in his report published online in The Space Review. Women, minorities, and environmentalists join the often-cited youth demographic in his list of target audiences. Proposing messages "addressing the needs of specific audiences", Leahy cites almost every major demographic group as a niche. Should we focus on dividing the message of space's benefits into repackaged versions better suited to one market segment?

With a recent survey showing 27% of the 18-25 year-olds doubting that NASA went to the Moon (and one in ten thinking it was "highly unlikely” that a Moon landing had ever taken place), we most surely need to speak with the youth. But how? We have educated guesses as to why there is disbelief but no plan to address it directly.

So, what can we do to promote space in a way that hits everyone in a new and powerful way? And how do we carry out the plan without relying on NASA to do all the work for us?

Humor on a sphere

Here is a funny little space factoid Craig Damlo made for Yuri's Night. It is a great illustration of how a little humor, and a bit of pop culture, can make a complicated concept and make it understandable--and even fun!

Falling into Orbit

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy has this to say about flying: "There is an art to flying, or rather a knack. The knack lies in learning how to throw yourself at the ground and miss. Clearly, it is this second part—the missing—that provides the difficulties." Although mankind may never fully learn to fly, we have become very proficient at falling. And on April 12, 1961, Yuri Gagarin became the first man to miss the ground.

That is all there is to space travel—falling, continuously falling. In the simplest of terms, a space launch works like this: take an object—in this case a space capsule—and throw it toward the horizon; if you throw it far enough, it simply will miss the ground as it falls back to Earth, and will enter an orbit around the planet. This may be, in fact, the greatest benefit of living on a round planet—well, that and the stability and strength of a sphere.

Space Cuisine

Martha Stewart isn't the only one spicing up life onboard the space station. In August of 2006 Chef Emeril Lagasse also did an episode of his television show based around meals he created for delivery to the Expedition 13 crew.

The latest celebrity to cook for the final frontier is French master chef Alain Ducasse. His meals developed in collaboration with ESA and sent up with supplies late in 2006 and enjoyed by the Expedition 14 crew. According to ESA, German astronaut Thomas Reiter was delighted with the meal. "It was absolutely delicious," said Reiter. "But we have no doubt that it would taste much better if we had some wine with it as well!"

Read more from Wired, NASA, and ESA--including Ducasse's space menu!

Sci-Fi Fashion List

Wired Magazine has compiled a list of the Top 10 Sci-Fi Flick Fashions. Among the winners are Queen Amidala’s gowns from Star Wars I-III and the suede vest worn by Khan in Start Trek II.

The list is surprisingly gender-neutral with garments worn by 4 women, 3 men, 1 alien, a replicant, and a cyborg. The clothing is all meant to be worn in standard 1-G environment (Barbarella's spent some time in weightlessness, but her clothing was still intended to function in the presence of gravity.)

Want to see what else made the list? Go to Wired.com

ISS gets tips from Martha

Martha Stewart talked with ISS commander Michael Lopez-Alegria and flight engineer Sunita Williams for about 20 minutes this week. The footage will be used on her television show later this year. The 'domestic diva' asked about life on board the space station from laundry to meals to interior decorating.

Why this sudden interest in how people live in space and how to improve the accommodations? Martha's close friend Charles Simonyi is scheduled to head up to the station in April as the fifth private spaceflight participant. "Please take care of Charles while he's there," she requested of the ISS Expedition 14 crew.

Martha got a good taste of space herself during a 2006 ZERO-G flight (part of Charles' spaceflight training). She used her experience in microgravity to discuss weightless curtains with some degree of expertise. Does this mean the station may be getting a house call from the decorating expert? Is a hot glue gun approved for use in space for handmade crafts?!

More coverage at USA Today and New Scientist Space Blog.

Metric Moon

portions reprinted from NASA.gov

If you think in pounds and miles instead of kilograms and kilometers, you're in the minority. Only the United States, Liberia, and Burma still primarily use English units -- the rest of the world is metric. And now the Moon will be metric too.

NASA has decided to use metric units for all operations on the lunar surface when it returns to the Moon. The decision is a victory not only for the metric system itself, but also for the spirit of international cooperation in exploring the Moon.

NASA is considering adopting other standards for its lunar operations as well. For example, another idea that has been discussed informally by the space agencies is using the same type of internet protocols that we all use here on Earth today for communications systems developed for the Moon.

In all, this push toward standards and cooperation gives the return to the Moon a very different feel than the Cold War space race of the 1950s and '60s. This time around, competition may help motivate nations to reach for the Moon, but cooperation will help to get them there.

original article at science.nasa.gov

more discussion at NewScientist.com

Life Imitates Space Art: Sexy Apple iPhone

Just take a look at the iPhone, a product that Apple Inc. will roll out in June of this year in the USA. It’s sleek, it’s sexy, it’s futuristic, and gosh darn it, spacey! I don’t know about you, but to me it looks like it a “PADD” from the old TV show Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987-1994), but has the characteristics of both a Trek “tri-corder” and a real life smart phone like the very popular Palm Treo line. What makes Apple’s iPhone look so space-age sexy is the slick black glass (plastic actually) touch screen and solo belly button on the front. I’d love to ask the designers of this spacey little gadget just what they were influenced by. I’ll bet that old space TV show is to blame. Maybe, it’s a little 20th birthday present to the TNG’s set designers. Who knows? In any case, I wish they’d named it “the Communicator!”

Finally R2D2 is Alive!

Reporting live from the 40th CES (Consumer Electronics Show) in Las Vegas, Nikko, the RC company is making all our childhood Star Wars dreams alive. In prototype phase is an R2D2 capable of projecting holographic movies, well on a screen. But how cool is that! You can play DVD's through your personal bot, and the projection quality is not bad. It rolls around controlled by a remote control that the customer service rep had attached to a Millenium Falcon desk model. Complete with the signature bleeping lights, you can also mount an Ipod to R2 and have him play your favorite track while you dance around the coolest companion droid ever! With an overwehlming amount of electronics stuff to check out at CES, this one was defintely a breathe of fresh air! They will retail at $1200 in the summer of 2007. Luke, you can eat your heart out! Thank you Nikko!

Space Tourist #5 + 6 (+backup)

Space tourists are paying their way to lower Earth orbit left and right. #5 on the list is Charles Simonyi, a retired Microsoft developer of Word and Excel, CEO of a private sftware development company, and current beau of American cooking/lifestyle diva, Martha Stewart. Simonyi will accompany NASA astronauts Sunita Williams, Daniel Tani, Clayton Anderson, and cosmonauts Commander Fyodor Yurchikhin and fellow flight engineer Oleg Kotov on a 10-day mission to the International Space Station. ISS Expedition 15 is set for launch on April 9, just three days before Yuri Gagarin's celebrated flight in 1961.Being the tech guy, he will document his adventures on his website, where he will also encourage his colleagues to blog. (Blogging is new to the cosmonauts.)

Three private citizens are training at Star City, including Dr. Simonyi. Dr Sheikh Muszaphar Shukor Al Masrie bin Sheikh Mustapha is an orthopedic doctor, a medical lecturer, and also a part time model from Malaysia who has been selected for his ISS tour in October 2007, on a Soyuz TMA-11. If Shukor flies, he will be the first angkasawan (Malaysin astronaut). His backup is Dr. Faiz Bin Khaleed, an Army dental surgeon. The angkasawans hope their spaceflight will inspire Muslims all over the planet and revive the glory days of when Islamic scholars lead the world in science and discovery. Malaysia is a small Islamic nation that has a unique blend of Indian, Chinese and Malay ethinicities in which a space program could be a unifier for the country. Making teh tarik, Malaysia's signature hot tea drink is banned by the Russian space agency. Instead the angkasawan has to perform 10 research experiments designed by 10 universities. The program is sponsored by Angkasa, the Malaysian space agency.

Previous space tourists include Dennis Tito, Mark Shutleworth, Gregory Olsen and Anousheh Ansari, all with a technology background.

Qu'est-ce que gravite autour de la Terre?

Ca s'est vraiment passé le 13 juillet 2006 sur la première chaîne de télévision française, regardée par des millions de personnes, et c'est effrayant...

Earth Can Rotate on Your Wrist!

Shocking yes, but true! It's the Earthwatch, literally! Officially the Wn-1, this is a Seiko watch designed in Japan, by Think The Earth (TTE) and exhibited in BaselWorld, in the spring of 2006. This is TTE's first project to have the world, well more conscious of Earth. Having the mothership rotate on your wrist precisely with that of the planet's actual rotation is not a small feat. Time will never be the same. The concept behind Wn-1 is a very unique and thoughtful process. Wn-1 indicates time with an earth-dial (a dome-shaped 24-hour hand), a position indicator, and a minute hand. The hours are read counterclockwise one revolution per 24 hours, and the minutes clockwise. There is no second hand. One of Wn-1's most unique characteristic is the Earth-dial (the hour hand) that rotates counterclockwise. The point is that is that the counterclock rotation is actually the precise direction of planetary motion, viewed from outer space. It's an insightful timeteller, physically showing planetary time relative to the user. The Wn-1 is packaged with a playful set of modular cards that can convert the watch into a desktop clock with 20 "skin" changes. All cards relate to space, Earth and of course time. This is truly a stellar piece of art and innovation.

TTE's projects creates a high awareness of the global perspective, to have us collectively conscious at a daily level about the state of the Earth, the very place that we inhabit. Other projects include the earthrium, an interactive GUI to document and predict various earthly patterns through time. Live Earth is a mobile application to track cloud cover, rotation position, weather patterns and position to the sun. It is a bilingual paid application that allows the user to be more aware of the state of the planet.

TTE's projects are great reminders of the same planet that we live on. Just by visiting their website, I'm more humble already.

Hyper Space Couture Design Contest

Move over big clunky spacesuits, haute attire is coming through. JAXA (Japanese Aerospace Agency) has sponsored a Hyper Space Couture Design Contest. It is a multi-staged contest in which over 800+ designs were submitted for use inside suborbital flights. After the initial "dreams" stage of the contest, the top 10 designs have been selected to be manufactured and exhibited at a space couture fashion show in the spring of 2007, in both Tokyo and Paris. The effort is headed up by leading Japanese fashion designer Eri Matsui, who has designed a wedding dress for Zero-G. She is also a judge for the contest. With Rocketplane Kistler as a major sponsor, and exhibitor of the winning fashions for its virgin suborbital flights, space fashion is not only haute, but HOT!

Koreans head to space with fanfare and food

After months of screening over 36,000 candidates, South Korea unveiled the two finalists live on TV in December. The event looks like an award show with two "winners"--very different from the NASA press conferences announcing new astronaut candidates. JoongAng Daily compared it to "a hybrid season of American Idol and Survivor." Ko San, 30, a researcher at the Samsung Advanced Institute of Technology, and Yi So-yeon, 28, who is working on a Ph.D. at the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), will both train at the Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center.

After 14 months of training, one will blast off into space on a taxi trip to the ISS--the same kind taken by private space flight participant Anousheh Ansari in 2006.

Along with their multitudes of science experiments, the cultural pioneers will take along samples of traditional Korean food including the country's world-famous fermented cabbage dish -- kimchi. A scientist at the Korea Food Research Institute says kimchi is a much-needed morale booster for any South Korean space traveler.

I look forward to the increase in the variety and flavor of the food available on orbit! After 6 months in space, a bit of Korean take-out or some Indian food would be out of this world...