As the Worm Turns (In Your Mouth): China’s Lunar PALACE

When I think of self-contained environments, I can’t help but think of Bio-Dome. It’s a failing, and I understand that, but my mind makes associations that way. So imagine my Confucian (pun intended) when the Chinese announced last May that three intrepid volunteers had endured 105 days in Lunar PALACE (Permanent Astrobase Life-support Artificial Closed […]

ISEE-3 Reboot Project: Critical Communications

In spite of all obstacles, including equipment age, the International Sun/Earth Explorer 3 (ISEE-3) is talking to people on Earth again. Not only is it talking, but the people sending and receiving ISEE-3’s messages are volunteers for the ISEE-3 Reboot Project instead of paid Federal Government employees. All people involved with the project are working towards a vision of […]

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: 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 […]