Programming Note

The Science Cheerleaders will be on NASA TV today at 12:30 p.m. EDT. The show is called "Ask Me, I'm a Rocket Scientist!" http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/nasatv/schedule.html.

Woo hoo!

Follow-up:

Well, shoot. NASA TV decided not to show the performance, so all the outside world got to see were the Science Cheerleaders after their performance. They looked marvelous, of course, and it was great to see some familiar faces, like Dar, Summer, Laura, and Heidi. But still, it's just a treat to watch these ladies perform (okay, Dar doesn't put on the uniform, but the rest of the ladies do). There's something fundamentally wrong with the universe when my day job and one of my free-time jobs overlap, and I am not in the room! Hahrumph! Well, better luck next time...and there will be a next time. Dar and I are working on that. Stay tuned.

Additional Follow-up:

Dar's summary can be found here.

NASA posted a picture here, but what the heck, here 'tis:

Potpourri CXII

The fun continues...

The L.A. Times to NASA TV: Liven Up

Former Shuttle Astronaut Sally Ride seeks to address the persistent gender gap in the sciences.

The Voyager spacecraft are still making discoveries.

A little late, but here's a cute background story on the origins of NORAD's "Santa Tracker."

From Martin: movie model maker Doug Drexler posted the Constellation Program's 2009 Year in Review YouTube video to his site.

Potpourri CX

From Tracy, a site that tracks trends in scientific research and how many times particular papers are cited.

For those of you accessing NASA TV via direct satellite link, the satellite is changing.

Just to give myself an idea of what Dr. OZMG has decided to put herself through, I did a little reading on what it takes to train for a marathon. I think I'll stick with aerobics, walking, and weight lifting for my exercise. I've had the popping knees and ankles of an 80-year-old man since I was about 10. I can be an energetic cheering section, though...

Yikes! The U.S. has exceeded the congressionally approved ceiling for the national debt--over $12 trillion!

Roy Disney, nephew of the late Walt Disney, has died. A shame. Roy was a decent guy, from all I heard.

A book that's right up Dar's alley: Public Participation in Environmental Assessment and Decision Making.

Another book of interest: Changing the Conversation: Messages for Improving Public Understanding of Engineering.

Hat tip to Dar for pointing this one out to me: From NASWatch/SpaceRef: A rumored/leaked breakthrough in learning what President Obama's NASA policy is going to be. The original story can be found here.