Tag: Nasa

The difficulty of going to Mars

There's been a lot of celebration this holiday season of the fiftieth anniversary of the Apollo 8 mission, the first time humans went into (relatively) deep space and orbited another body, the moon.  I'm glad to see Apollo 8 getting some recognition.  It's usually overshadowed by Apollo 11, the first mission to actually land on … Continue reading The difficulty of going to Mars →

‘The Martian’: Robinson Crusoe meets Apollo 13

I recently read Andy Weir's novel: 'The Martian'.  Weir's book is a self publishing success story.  An admitted life long geek, he enjoyed thoroughly researching how a mission to Mars might work and what might go wrong with it.  He originally published the book, in serialized form, on his web site.  In response to reader … Continue reading ‘The Martian’: Robinson Crusoe meets Apollo 13 →

NASA has never accidentally sent a probe into the Sun.

Last week, I was having lunch with some friends, which included a number of programmers.  One of them mentioned an old urban myth, that I hadn't heard in several years, which claims that, due to a programming bug (involving a misplaced semicolon), NASA once accidentally sent a probe into the Sun.  I pointed out to my friend how implausible this was. … Continue reading NASA has never accidentally sent a probe into the Sun. →

Yep, Mars One appears to be a scam

I've written critically about Mars One before, just evaluating their claims at face value.  But it appears that I wasn't nearly skeptical enough.  Mars One appears to be a scam.  A Mars One "finalist" candidate explains why: Mars One Finalist Explains Exactly How It’s Ripping Off Supporters — Matter — Medium. “When you join the ‘Mars One … Continue reading Yep, Mars One appears to be a scam →

xkcd: Spacecraft and launch vehicle payloads, in horses

  Similar to the relative spacecraft and rocket sizes I linked to the other day, here's xkcd's version, in horse units.  At first I thought he was referring to horsepower, but then I realized it was horse mass.  (Click through for full sized version.) via xkcd: Payloads. It's worth noting how large the Saturn V and … Continue reading xkcd: Spacecraft and launch vehicle payloads, in horses →

Every Ship That Has Carried Humans Into Space, In One Chart

This is pretty cool.  A Reddit user put together a chart showing all the human occupied spacecraft that have been used so far.  Click through to see the full sized version. via Every Ship That Has Carried Humans Into Space, In One Chart. One thing that stands out for me is how huge the Saturn V was, … Continue reading Every Ship That Has Carried Humans Into Space, In One Chart →

Comet Siding Spring: A Close Encounter with Mars

In case you haven't heard yet, there's a comet headed for Mars.  It will pass pretty close, close enough for the various orbiters we have in there to get pictures, and for them to be in a little bit of peril.  But apparently there is a plan. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oq8lEKAY_fI Comet C/2013 A1 Siding Spring will make … Continue reading Comet Siding Spring: A Close Encounter with Mars →