China counts down to Thursday space launch

China is preparing to send its third manned mission into space tomorrow night. The Shenzhou VII mission will include the nation's first space walk. Liftoff from the Jiuquan space center is scheduled for between 9:07 p.m. (9:07 a.m. EDT) and 10:27 p.m. (10:27 a.m. EDT). Fueling of the rocket has already begun, meaning the launch is "irreversible" according to the official Xinhua news agency.

Three men -- Zhai Zhigang, Liu Boming and Jing Haipeng, all aged 42 -- have been assigned to the mission.

Read the full article here.

Dark Flow

We've all heard of dark matter and dark energy, but now SPACE.com is reporting on a fascinating new astronomical discovery known as "dark flow".

Apparently very large patches of matter in the universe (we're talking galactic clusters here) seem to be moving at very high speeds toward a region in the sky between the constellations of Centaurus and Vela. And the movement cannot be explained by any of the known gravitational forces in the observable universe. In fact, researchers have concluded that whatever is causing this motion must be "outside the observable universe".

"We found a very significant velocity, and furthermore, this velocity does not decrease with distance, as far as we can measure," Kashlinsky told SPACE.com. "The matter in the observable universe just cannot produce the flow we measure...."

"The structures responsible for this motion have been pushed so far away by inflation, I would guesstimate they may be hundreds of billions of light years away, that we cannot see even with the deepest telescopes because the light emitted there could not have reached us in the age of the universe," Kashlinsky said in a telephone interview. "Most likely to create such a coherent flow they would have to be some very strange structures, maybe some warped space time. But this is just pure speculation."

See? Pretty fascinating, right? Check out the full article here.

History of the HOSC

The Huntsville Operations Support Center (HOSC), located at Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) in Huntsville, Alabama, has played an important role in America's space program since the very beginning. This video documents the history of the HOSC, from Explorer I to ISS payload operations. Over the past week, the HOSC has served as a backup control center for the ISS as our friends at JSC have dealt with Hurricane Ike. Just another chapter in the history of the HOSC.

Space Shuttle Launch As Seen From Air Canada Flight

Amazing video of a space shuttle launch (possibly STS-124) shot from the cabin of an Air Canada airliner. What a view! I love the reaction of the guy shooting the video.

WARNING: Commentary may not be safe for work or younger viewers.

Darth Vader Sighting

The Dark Lord of the Sith just walked past my office. I kid you not!

Total Solar Eclipse at 27,000 Feet

Raw video courtesy of LiveLeak.com: Total eclipse of the Sun, as seen over the Canadian Arctic, August 1, 2008. Photographed from a plane at an altitude of 27,000 feet from a location 140 km east of Cambridge Bay, Nunavut.

Awesome view. And listening to the folks on board geek out is priceless!

SRTM Static Test Firing

I had the opportunity to go out to the East Test Area of MSFC yesterday and watch the static test firing of a Solid Rocket Test Motor (SRTM). They gave us earplugs as we boarded the bus, so I naturally expected a nice thunderous chest-pounding roar when the motor ignited. What we got was not quite so impressive, but still pretty cool.

Ares V Update

From the AP wire: Officials at Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) here in Huntsville said Wednesday that the Ares V moon rocket will be about 20 feet longer than originally planned, topping out at 381 feet. That would make it some 18 feet taller than the 363-foot Saturn V that sent men to the Moon during the Apollo era. Wow!

They also said that the vehicle will have six engines at its base instead of five, and engineers have decided to enlarge the twin solid rocket boosters attached to its sides. As a result, the Ares V will hold more fuel and carry more payload than originally planned.

Following is a video showing how the Ares I and Ares V rockets will return humans to the Moon by the year 2020. Of course, Orion and Antares will have a little to do with it, too. :-)



UPDATE: Here's a more detailed version of the AP article from SPACE.com.