Nick's Space / Astronomy Blog August 2006 Archive

Many of us have used a simple memory device (or mnemonic) to help remember the names of the planets. I always used "My Very Educated Mother Just Served Us Nine ... Read More

The Space Shuttle Atlantis is back at the launch pad to ride out Tropical Storm Ernesto. The rotating service structure will surround the spacecraft and serve as a protective barrier ... Read More

NASA decided to move Space Shuttle Atlantis off its launch pad and back inside the protection of the Vehicle Assembly Building at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The roll ... Read More

Well, it's August 25, only two days away from that special date (if you believe the email), and many people are probably wearing their fingers to the bone hitting the ... Read More

As Stuart points out in his Astronomy Blog, many people are upset over yesterday's decision by the International Astronomical Union (IAU) that essentially demoted Pluto from planet status. While I ... Read More

In a telephone interview published at MSNBC, when asked about the International Astronomical Union's (IAU) decision to remove Pluto's status as a planet, 93 year old Patricia Tombaugh said, "I'm ... Read More

NASA began the countdown for the launch of Space Shuttle Atlantis on mission STS-115 at noon EDT Thursday, Aug. 24, at the T-43 hour point. During this mission, Atlantis' crew ... Read More

Keith Cowing, of the NASA Watch blog, has a great new post on the International Astronomical Union's (IAU) resolution on the definition pf planet. The pertinent part that he discusses says, ... Read More

CNN is reporting that the International Astronomical Union (IAU) has stripped Pluto of its planethood. It has been a contentious week at the IAU's General Assembly in Prague. An initial proposal ... Read More

The question of what makes a planet continues to heat up and fly back and forth between factions at the International Astronomical Union's (IAU) General Assembly. Over at Live Science, ... Read More

Once again, thanks to Paul Sutherland of Skymania News for some fascinating new information about our solar system. It seems that planetary researchers have devised a novel approach to the search ... Read More

Recently, I posted here to comment on a Blog post by Thomas Marquart in his IAU General Assembly 2006 Blog (See Status of Pluto Unimportant? and the related comments). Mr. ... Read More

The pendulum continues to swing in the debate over the definition of a planet and the status of Pluto. Robert Roy Britt, of Space.com, reports that several astronomers criticized the IAU ... Read More

As I told you the other day, NASA seems to have misplaced recordings from the original Apollo Lunar Missions. This must be a bit embarrassing for some of the folks ... Read More

NASA has released the following concerning the next shuttle mission: "NASA senior managers on Wednesday unanimously voted to launch the Space Shuttle Atlantis on August 27. Commander Brent Jett and his ... Read More

Thanks to Paul Sutherland, of the Skymania News Blog, for directing me to Dr. Mike Brown's web page. Dr. Brown's name should be familiar to you as the man who ... Read More

Since it appears there's a good chance we'll be adding some new planets to our solar system, I thought you might like to learn a little more about one of ... Read More

New Scientist Space says that rather than demoting Pluto, the International Astronomical Union (IAU) may be on the verge of adding two new planets to our solar system. Next week, during ... Read More

Like many of us, Dave Pearson has been following the question of Pluto's planethood closely. Like others who blog on astronomy, Dave recently provided a link to a temporary blog ... Read More

I've heard rumblings about this for several days. CNN reports that NASA personnel can not locate recordings made during the original Apollo moon missions. They have been searching for them ... Read More

Thanks to Stuart at the Astronomy Blog for pointing this out to us. Tom Gehrels, of the University of Arizona, writes a proposal in the second issue of the International Astronomy ... Read More

Paul Sutherland, of the Skymania News Blog, has a dimmer forecast for the future of Pluto. Paul says that Patrick Moore, presenter of BBC TV's long-running show The Sky at Night, ... Read More

Robert Roy Britt, writing at the LiveScience Blog, believes that astronomers may make some changes to the status of Pluto, when they get the opportunity to vote on a definition ... Read More

It's that time again. Students and teachers are heading back to school for another year of learning. If you've got someone on your list who has an interest in space or ... Read More

Phil Plait, of the Bad Astronomy blog let us know of the loss of Dr. James Van Allen, "a pioneer in space science." If the name sounds familiar, it's probably ... Read More

Jon Voisey, The Angry Astronomer, has a great post on the way many people misinterpret the event known as the Big Bang. As Jon points out, the Big Bang Theory was ... Read More

Phil Plait, of the Bad Astronomy Blog, shares an animation video of what could happen if an extremely large asteroid were to hit the Earth. It is very scary indeed. ... Read More