Potpourri CVIII

Note to other Blogger.com users: For some reason the "Paste" option is disabled in IE 8. Copy/paste works just fine in Firefox!

Busy research day…too much stuff to explain everything in detail, so I'm just posting headlines and links.

Monarch Butterflies in Spaaaaaaaace!
http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/091208-space-monarch-butterflies.html

Leonard David on Public Space Travel
http://www.space.com/businesstechnology/091207-spaceshiptwo-space-touristm.html

Variations in Brightness for Sun-like Stars
http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/091207-sun-stars-brightness.html

Cassini Providing Data on the Heliosphere
http://www.spacedaily.com/reports/View_From_The_Center_Of_The_Solar_System_999.html

Jeffrey Bell on “Rocket Plane Roulette”
http://www.spacedaily.com/reports/Rocket_Plane_Roulette_999.html

NASA Moon Design Competition
http://www.space-travel.com/reports/NASA_announces_moon_design_competition_999.html

Climate Protestors Climb the Roman Colosseum
http://www.spacedaily.com/2006/091209124623.rpqa087c.html

NASA Managers Looking at Adding Another Shuttle Flight
http://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2009/12/nasa-evaluating-sts-135-addition-to-shuttle-manifest/

Moment of Random: Captain Berlin vs. Hitler
http://www.needcoffee.com/2009/12/08/captain-berlin-vs-hitler-movie-review/#more-14335

Need Coffee eview of Neil Gaiman’s American Gods
http://www.needcoffee.com/2009/12/08/neil-gaiman-dreams/#more-14323

RFI for Using Constellation or Robotic Hardware for Future Missions
http://www.spaceref.com/news/viewsr.html?pid=32990

Anti-Terrorism Hero or Wishful-Thinking Nut?
http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2009/12/tedd_petruna_i_thwarted_muslim_hijackers_on_airtra.php?ref=mp

Creating Starfleet Academy?

NASAWatch: http://nasawatch.com/archives/2009/11/creating-starfl.html
OpenNASA: http://www.opennasa.com/2009/12/07/starfleet-academy/
Me: http://bartacus.blogspot.com/2008/07/starfleet-academy-proposal-several.html

Bar Camp? Not Quite What You’re Thinking…
http://www.opennasa.com/2009/12/05/spaceup-a-space-unconference/
http://spaceup.org/agenda/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BarCamp

Government in the Digital Age
http://www.opennasa.com/2009/11/25/government-in-the-digital-age/

Leading in an Era of Disruptive Innovation (THINK, for God’s sake and your own. THINK before you unleash your infernal gadgets on the world!!!)
http://www.opennasa.com/2009/11/19/leading-amidst-the-disruptive-innovation-storm/

Boeing Looking for a Non-Union Source of 787 Parts Due to Strike (I’m shocked, shocked…)
http://www.bizjournals.com/seattle/stories/2009/12/07/daily19.html

Flight Delays Up in October (Okay, fine, but how many of those were due to airline problems vs. the government’s antiquated Air Traffic Control system?)
=http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/travel/2009-12-08-october-airline-performance_N.htm

Go Boldly on The Space Show
http://www.goboldlynasa.org/
http://spacefellowship.com/2009/12/07/this-week-on-the-space-show-121/
http://www.thespaceshow.com/detail.asp?q=1271

(From Dar the Science Cheerleader) Hydrogen-Powered Cars for Kids...and This is a Toy!
http://www.sciencecheerleader.com/2009/12/the-cure-for-the-holiday-shopping-blues/

Science Jewelry for the Brain
http://www.sciencecheerleader.com/2009/12/science-jewelry-for-your-brain/

I Can Has Singularity?
http://ieet.org/index.php/IEET/more/cascio20091120/

Global Warming and Mt. Kilimanjaro
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704342404574577892593153408.html?mod=rss_Today%27s_Most_Popular

Did You Know that CO2 Was a Threat to Public Health? According to the EPA, It Is
http://www.jerrypournelle.com/view/2009/Q4/view600.html#Tuesday

Shubber Ali on Giving Up Space Blogging (Can’t Say That I Blame Him)
http://spacecynic.wordpress.com/2009/11/27/thanksgiving-and-a-sort-of-farewell/

Jeff Foust on NASA’s FY2010 Budget
http://www.spacepolitics.com/2009/12/09/fy2010-budget-endgame/

Chris Carberry Resigns from Mars Society Executive Director Post
http://www.spacepolitics.com/2009/12/05/mars-society-executive-director-steps-down/

Soyuz to Start Launching from French Guiana
http://www.flightglobal.com/articles/2009/11/30/335601/soyuz-to-go-west-in-2010.html

For Orlando people who get warm and romantic thoughts about cold & ice
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/travel/attractions/orl-ice-pg,0,1748946.photogallery

Walt Disney World is Reducing Discounts in 2010. Wait a minute, Disney does discounts??
http://thedailydisney.com/blog/2009/12/iger-disney-will-dial-back-on-park-discounts-in-latter-part-of-2010/

The Copenhagen summit on global climate change is not going well...the U.N. is not happy that it's not getting its way and that a draft agreement was leaked to the press
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2009/dec/08/copenhagen-climate-summit-disarray-danish-text

From my NASA PAO feed:

NASA MAKING GOVERNMENT MORE ACCESSIBLE WITH CUTTING-EDGE USE OF NEW MEDIA

WASHINGTON -- NASA is supporting the White House's Open Government
Directive with a number of Internet-based programs designed to make
the agency more accessible and create a dialog with the American
people about their space program.

NASA is one of six departments and agencies working to spur innovation
by making it easier for high-tech companies to identify
collaborative, entrepreneurial opportunities. Government agencies are
home to treasure troves of data and information, too much of which is
underutilized by the private sector because it is either not easily
found or exists in cumbersome formats. NASA and the National
Institutes of Health, the Food and Drug Administration in the
Department of Health and Human Services, the Agricultural Research
Service in the Department of Agriculture, the National Institute of
Standards and Technology in the Department of Commerce and the
Department of Energy are working together to increase access to
information on publicly-funded technologies that are available for
license, opportunities for federal funding and partnerships, and
potential private-sector partners.

NASA's Innovative Partnerships Programs Office is working to establish
an RSS feed to publicize technologies available for public licensing.
By making information from multiple agencies available in RSS and XML
feeds on Data.gov, the government empowers innovators to find the
information they need and receive real-time updates, which can fuel
entrepreneurial momentum, create new jobs, and strengthen economic
growth. NASA's RSS feed will make these opportunities more visible to
the commercial and research communities. NASA plans on having the
feed operational by Dec. 31.

NASA also has undertaken an extensive effort to use the Internet and
social media tools to engage the public on agency activities. NASA's
home page on the Internet, www.nasa.gov, offers information on all of
the agency's missions, research and discoveries.

In January 2009, nasa.gov capitalized on the agency's growing social
media efforts by rolling out a new "Connect and Collaborate with
NASA" page, at www.nasa.gov/connect. This provides the public with
quick connections to the agency's pages on Twitter, Facebook,
UStream, YouTube, Flickr and MySpace, as well as NASA podcasts and
vodcasts on iTunes. The page also provides links to agency chats,
Tweetup events, RSS feeds and the agency's official blog.

The agency's social media presence was further expanded in November
with the addition of NASA's Twitter feed to the homepage. The website
offers links to NASA-related desktop "widgets" and opportunities for
the public to collaborate directly with the agency through art
contests, engineering challenges and imagery and data analysis.

Another new communication tool is Spacebook, a NASA internal expert
networking utility. Spacebook has been used to improve collaboration
across NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center. The Spacebook site allows
new and established NASA staff to get to know the agency's diverse
community of scientists, engineers, project managers and support
personnel.

"Space doesn't explore itself. Science doesn't discover itself. People
do that, and to do that they have to talk," said Emma Antunes, the
project manager who also manages Goddard's Web site. "They have to
trade questions and ideas. They have to connect. And, the more
diverse the group, the more likely connections and conversations will
lead to new ideas and innovation. Spacebook will enhance NASA's
capacity to do just that."

A fun video from the Coalition for Space Exploration: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K-ZWMeFR5bw

TV show recommendation by Hu: Outer Space Astronauts... http://www.syfy.com/outerspaceastronauts/

Web Contest:
Enter this contest for pre-collegiate students by building a Web site that communicates your vision of the future.

Furniture made from reclaimed wine barrels: http://www.etsy.com/shop/StilNovoDesign

And, of course, I'd be remiss as a space geek if I didn't point out the rollout of SpaceShipTwo on Virgin Galactic's site.

And I think that'll do for tonight...

Getting Involved in Space Education and Research

Hat tip to Darlene the Science Cheerleader for developing yet another cool way to help private citizens get involved in and practicing science. I thought I'd post the suggestions I sent here as well. There are many ways to get involved in science or engineering projects. Below is just a partial list from the space exploration perspective.

Some of these probably count as engineering projects, but I thought I'd include them anyway. I know, you're shocked, but these are all space-related.

SETI@Home (http://setiathome.berkeley.edu/)
SETI@home is a scientific experiment that uses Internet-connected computers in the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI). You can participate by running a free program that downloads and analyzes radio telescope data.

Planetary Society projects related to advocacy and education, extrasolar planets, innovative technologies, international missions, Mars exploration, near-Earth objects, and the search for extraterrestrial intelligence (SETI) (http://www.planetary.org/programs/list/)

Mars Society University Rover Challenge (http://www.marssociety.org/portal/c/urc)
For the third year, teams of university students will design and build the next generation of Mars rovers. May 28-30, 2009 the teams and their rovers will face off at the Mars Desert Research Station in Utah.

Mars Society Pressurized Rover Challenge (http://www.marssociety.org/portal/c/pressurizedRover)
A contest was started by the Mars Society in 2000 to design analog pressurized rover concepts that could be tested at the Society's analog stations. The contest is officially over, but in typical Mars Society fashion, teams have been continuing to work on rover designs since.

Mars Society Mars Analog Research Stations(http://www.marssociety.org/portal/groups/AnalogsTF/index_html)
This Task Force is responsible for the design and development of our Mars Analog Bases. This task force will work on all phases of project development and provide The Mars Society with periodic detailed reports of progress.

The Mars Foundation's Mars Homestead Project (http://marshome.org/)
The Mars Homestead™ Project, the main project of the Mars Foundation™, is developing a unified plan for building the first habitat on Mars by exploiting local materials. The ultimate goal of the project is to build a growing, permanent settlement beyond the Earth, thus allowing civilization to spread beyond the limits of our small planet.

Mars Gravity Biosatellite Program (http://www.marsgravity.org/main/)
The Mars Gravity Biosatellite Program is a ground-breaking undertaking to study the effects of Martian gravity on mammals. We are taking the first step towards human missions to Mars - and beyond. Data from this mission will make a significant contribution to our understanding of fundamental space biology and greatly advance human space exploration. To find out how students are advancing human space exploration, please check out the rest of our website!

Huntsville Alabama L5 Society (HAL5) Project HALO (http://www.nsschapters.org/al/HAL5/HALO_Index.shtml)
Working in our spare time, we are currently working on our next hybrid rocket. It is a derivative of the old ARCAS sounding rocket that we dubbed Tube Launch 1 (TL-1). Working part time one night a week. For additional information about Project HALO, meeting location, and tax-deductible donations, please Just drop us an email . We currently have needs for avionics / data instrumentation and tube launcher volunteers.

NASA Student Launch Initiative (http://education.nasa.gov/edprograms/descriptions/Student_Launch_Initiative.html) and NASA University Student Launch Initiative (http://education.nasa.gov/edprograms/descriptions/University_Student_Launch_Initiative.html)
The NASA Student Launch Initiative, or SLI, involves middle and high school students in designing, building and testing reusable rockets with associated scientific payloads. This unique hands-on experience allows students to demonstrate proof-of-concept for their designs and gives previously abstract concepts tangibility.
The NASA University Student Launch Initiative, or USLI, is a competition that challenges university-level students to design, build and fly a reusable rocket with scientific payload to one mile in altitude. The project engages students in scientific research and real-world engineering processes with NASA engineers. Students propose to participate in USLI during the fall. Once selected, teams design their rocket and payload throughout the school year. USLI requires a NASA review of the teams’ preliminary and critical designs. The project also requires flight readiness and safety reviews before the rockets and payloads are approved for launch. After launch, teams complete a final report to include conclusions from their science experiment and the overall flight performance. The Preliminary Design Review, Critical Design Review, and Flight Readiness Review are conducted by panels of scientists and engineers from NASA and from NASA contactors and external partners.

NASA Faculty Research Programs (http://education.nasa.gov/edprograms/frprograms/index.html)

NASA Educator Programs (http://education.nasa.gov/edprograms/eduprograms/index.html)