SpaceX: They’re Not the First Ones to Try This

It seems I hear this refrain a lot in reference to SpaceX and its rocket reusability attempts, “They’re not the first ones to try this.” It gets a little tiresome because it sounds like an informed opinion, but really isn’t. It also seems that SpaceX itself is dealing with the same kind of sentimen–but I can only […]

The Indian Mechanical Martian

The above image is a great reminder of the playful part of conducting serious missions. The latest mission to Mars in this case just arrived Tuesday and was placed into Mars’ orbit. The country responsible for the mission? India. 11 months ago, in November 2013, the Indians launched the Mangalyaan, or Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM) […]

Find that Airplane–FREE!!

Earlier this year, I wrote a little post about how Harris Corporation and Aireon were working together to make accurate global aircraft tracking a reality. They’re doing this by placing GPS signal receivers and transmitters as an extra payload on board Iridium NEXT satellites. This allows GPS equipment to send a message through a special radio transmitter from […]

Three Guys, Three Shovels, One Launchpad

Let’s continue the whole SpaceX/Texas spaceport theme a little bit more. Last week there were a few posts on this site about SpaceX’s move of launch operations near Brownsville, Texas. According to The Register, SpaceX broke ground on the future launch site Monday, 22 Sept 14. Texas is giving SpaceX a little over $15 million to build […]

The NASA Spin(off)

Have you ever heard of a refrigeroven? Or plants that text you when they’re thirsty? No?! Okay, let’s try something easier, like shoe insoles. How about the computer mouse? Those two were easy, right? So here’s a question for you: What do they all have in common with each other? If you answered “NASA,” give […]