DIY Space: Help NASA with Zooniverse

NASA is experiencing too much of a good thing with its Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) satellite. The team is apparently overwhelmed with the number of images one of the satellite’s payloads is producing (why this problem wasn’t anticipated, I don’t know). But you can help with this problem. First, a little about the LRO. The […]

Keeping the Light Attitude: Kepler’s Balancing Act

Near the middle of last year, the planet-hunting satellite, Kepler, looked like it would never Keple again. On May 11, 2013, the second of Kepler’s four reaction wheels went out, which made precision pointing, a requirement for Kepler’s scientific mission, nearly impossible. Some of this site’s posts have covered Kepler’s calls for ideas about how to use […]

DIY Space: More NASA Space Kits

NASA and the website Littlebits.cc are working together to get an actual working “space kit” out to the public. The kit, which costs $189, can be used to build all sorts of projects (at least 10, according to the website). Do you want to build an International Space Station replica? This kit will help you do […]

DIY Space: Build a LEGO NASA Satellite

The stacked “hockey pucks” in the picture above have something in common with the site’s latest HEO lesson. However, they are also LEGO models you can build. In this case, the model is of a NASA satellite that hasn’t been launched yet. The Magnetospheric Multiscale (MMS) spacecraft model shown on NASA’s very own website looks a little […]

Astronaut Pay

Sure, some of us say we’d work in space for free. We’re pretty nerdy that way. I’m pretty sure, then, for these astronauts, that getting paid to do something they love, is icing on the cake. I’m assuming astronauts love their job. There’s a lot of work and commitment involved to become an astronaut, though, so […]