Space

I read this article on BBC a while back on the 40th anniversary of the first Earthrise caught on camera. I bookmarked it to blog about it, but I never got around to it... it's been cluttering up my bookmarks toolbar for a while, I'm just going to post the link as is and hope you enjoy it as much as I think I enjoyed it.

Being the space news junkie and ardent Dune fan that I am, I couldn't help but be impressed that NASA had the foresight to take the first steps toward fully functioning stillsuits. They're testing for use on the International Space Station a process for turning urine into potable water. Mmm... sign me up!

In other news, India has successfully landed a probe on the moon. I guess you have to start a space exploration program somewhere!

At least I hope it's landing. It would be a shame for another one of these to simply crash. You should check out the article and the video presentation in this news article. It's pretty incredible stuff!

Maybe I can get on a mission to Mars if they need a minister.

UPDATE: It landed!

UPDATE 2: More pictures.

UPDATE 3: My dad also sent me a link to this article with a picture of the probe during its parachute descent as seen by one of our Mars orbiters.

A new website called Eureka! Science News uses Drupal to serve up late breaking news stories in various categories, including Space. The site is impressive in its presentation and in its technical implementation. The best part? It's all automated. Not a single story is found, added, categorized, or otherwise edited by a human at Eureka! The write-up on how the site was put together is inspiring. This site is a polished testament to the power of Drupal and ingenuity of the developers taking advantage of Drupal to build their web applications. I'd recommend reading the write-up and possibly bookmarking your new source for science news.

Yesterday was an incredible day. The date was April 8th, and it consisted of an absolutely wonderful trip through northwest Oregon to the coast with two awesome pit stops. The country up here is sooo beautiful. I don't think I've been any place in the States that compares, though that's hard to say definitively since much of the country is gorgeous. Up here in Oregon, though, it's all so green if not a little soggy from the constant drizzle the helps keep up appearances. Hills rise up in every direction covered either by forests and grassland or nice houses. We even got to see some low, snow-capped mountains as we drove! The pit stops were just as exciting as the scenery...

I just found out today that NASA streams spacewalk footage and commentary through their website. How cool is that?!?

I'm listening while I work to a spacewalk that's working on setting up the new Columbus module. They're floating over the Northern Atlantic (just heard them "oohing" and "aahing" at the English Channel) and doing some prep work to get components out of the cargo hold.

If you care to watch/listen, here's a direct link:
http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/nasatv/index.html?param=public

Really, this news story covers the stuff my sci-fi dreams have been made of for years. I'm a total space fanatic, and the thought that somewhere high above us an astronaut is conducting an emergency repair mission on the International Space Station just blows my mind. These are the latest pioneers and adventurers, and I wish I had the opportunity to do some of the same work!

Check it out: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7075784.stm

(Planning on setting up the first web development company and Bible study on the moon!)

EDIT: Found a cool image of the repair in action on Time's website.