May 2009

Space Energy Chief Nominee

legacy/charles bolton.

Charles Bolden, a rather dapper looking former NASA Astronaut, has recently been named as Obama's Space Agency Chief.  If confirmed, Charles Bolton will be only the second astronaut to hold the position. There is, however, a possibility that Bolton will not be nominated, as he has lobbied for rocket companies. According to the BBC, his biggest challenges as chief if he is confirmed will be the budgetary restraints imposed by the current financial crisis.

Apparently, the United States is now dependent on Russia to fly us into orbit, a situation that I'm sure many never saw coming. To shed some light on the current  situation, Science Magazine relays that, "An expensive new launcher is now in the works to replace the space shuttle, due to retire next year, but its projected costs are rapidly rising."

NASA Astronauts Drink Recycled Urine

legacy/astronaut urine party.

One small sip for man, one giant sip for mankind. No, that's not beer they're toasting with, but "Recycled Urine"......kind of makes you thirsty, doesn't it? Imagine how different the tv shows Gilligan's Island and Lost would be if they had this capability. I mean, seriously. What up with this?

In a quote in Space magazine, Michael Barratt said,

"We have these highly attractive labels on our water bags that essentially say 'brought to you by ECLSS,' and 'drink when real water is over 200 miles away,'"

That's pretty funny, but the price tag of the "Operation Urine" is not quite as funny:
$250 million. Not cheap. On the flip side however, the article points out that:

" Having recycled water available also lightens the load for Russian resupply ships."

Holy Smokes- It's a 13 Billion Year old Explosion

legacy/art.burst_.jpg

I don't want to hear you complaining about your Cable Company any more. Maybe your signal is down for an hour or two in bad weather, but I'm sure it comes through soon enough. In the best of times, your live games are delayed by probably no more than a few mere seconds,  which is nothing compared to the Gamma Ray Scientists saw explode in April. You could, in fact, say that the Gamma Ray was slightly more than somewhat delayed, as it actually exploded 13 billion years ago, making it the oldest thing ever witnessed from earth.

I can't even imagine what the scientist, who has the ephonious name of Edo Berger, said when he realized what he was witnessing, but I'm guessing it had to be something along the lines of "Holy Fucking Shit."