Nick's Space / Astronomy Blog June 2006 Archive

After my post the other day about the Asteroid Close Encounter on July 3, Karen left a comment asking, "What part of the sky do we search for the oncoming ... Read More

Today on The Straight Dope, Cecil Adams's column, Cecil has reprinted his answer to a question he first addressed in 1991. The writer asked, "If you were thrown into the ... Read More

This has nothing to do with getting hit by a meteorite. The stones I'm talking about are kidney stones. The Live Science blog quotes researchers at the University of Minnesota as ... Read More

If I had a 1 in 100 chance of winning the lottery, I'd be thrilled. However, I'm not so sure I'd be willing to start a voyage on which I ... Read More

It could be nearly a half mile wide and it's approaching Earth rapidly. Don't panic, though, Space.com says Asteroid 2004 XP14 is not a danger to us, but it will be ... Read More

Engineers at NASA are working hard on the question of why the Hubble Space Telescope's Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS) has stopped working. Paul Sutherland, of the Skymania News blog, ... Read More

Jack Garrison likes to feed the squirrels in his back yard. Apparently, that's what got him in trouble with the city of Melbourne, FL. A retired mechanic with the Kennedy ... Read More

Michael Cabbage, of the Orlando Sentinel's The Write Stuff blog, reports that the International Astronomical Union (IAU), have approved names for the two newly discovered satellites orbiting Pluto. Sticking with ... Read More

For years, some people have asked the question, "Is Pluto a planet?" Until recently, the answer from the International Astronomical Union has been yes. Now that an object has been ... Read More

With my recent release of the Top 10 Astronomy & Space Hoaxes Throughout History, it seems a good time to talk about myths, in this case, myths about the Search ... Read More

So, just how did we get where we are in the "space age?" Let's take a look back at what prompted the creation of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). ... Read More

Kudos to Fred Kiesche of The Eternal Golden Braid blog for bringing this story to my attention. The Treasure Coast Palm news website says Jupiter, FL resident, Bob Walshon was struck ... Read More

Some time ago, we told you about a cool product from Google, the search engine people, called Google Earth. Google Earth uses satellite images to allow you to zoom down ... Read More

It seems there have been practical jokers from the beginning of time. Many of the best hoaxes throughout history have involved astronomy or space. I searched for some of my ... Read More

Space.com calls this the "Space Age version of fighting fire with fire." A group of scientists in France have devised a method of protecting the Earth from any future deadly ... Read More

We all remember the images; plumes of smoke heading off at impossible angles, the look on Christa McAuliffe's Mom's face turning from excitement to horror. I know that for me ... Read More

Eileen Collins was the first (and so far, only) woman to command a US space mission. Now, Todd Halvorson, at Florida Today's Flame Trench Space Blog, reports that she'll soon ... Read More

Tom's Astronomy Blog talks about a fairly recent (May 2, 2006) meteor strike on the Moon. Unlike the strike on Norway, this impact was caught on video (don't expect anything ... Read More

Remember the Genesis probe that crashed in the desert in 2004? After spending three years in space collecting microscopic solar wind particles, the Genesis Sample Return Capsule's drogue and parafoil ... Read More

I must say that I have never desired to get a tattoo, even though I have a nephew and a good friend who are both tattoo artists. Among other reasons, ... Read More

As Greg mentioned in his comment on yesterday's Blog, pictures are now available of the site where a meteor crashed in Norway. Tom has a copy of one photograph on ... Read More

I'm awaiting more news on this story out of Norway that a massive meteorite struck last Friday with an impact comparable to an atomic bomb. A local farmer snapped a ... Read More

The early days of space exploration brought a lot of interest from the public. That excitement was reflected in popular culture as well, which included the music of the time. ... Read More

Paul Sutherland, of the Sky Mania blog reports on a hiking astronomer who happened upon a rock in the White Tank Mountain Regional Park in Arizona, which seems to depict ... Read More

Long time readers, or anyone who has read my bio, know of my interest in Antarctica. That makes this story doubly interesting to me. Everyone knows that most likely a meteor ... Read More

Over at the Space politics blog, Jeff has posted about the multi-organization Space Exploration Alliance's 2006 Space Blitz. It's an effort to have ordinary citizens lobby congress to "fund NASA ... Read More

According to NASA, Chicken Little might have been right... if he lived on the Moon. "Every day, more than a metric ton of meteoroids hits the Moon," says Bill Cooke of ... Read More

This story really touched me. Paul Sutherland, at Skymania News, reports about a small company, located near Ground Zero, that was involved in the construction of the twin Mars Rovers, Spirit ... Read More

Michael Belfiore, at Dispatches From the Final Frontier, says that Robert Bigelow plans to use a Russian Dnepr rocket to launch a 1/3-scale Genesis model of his planned commercial orbital ... Read More