It’s Carnival time again…

This week’s “Carnival of Space” is the 105th…  go take a look, it’s a great way of catching up with the best of the previous week’s space blogging… http://blogs.discovery.com/space_disco/2009/05/the-105th-carnival-of-space.html Enjoy!

How to COMPLETELY miss the point…

It’s not often that a story on a website makes me want to hurl my laptop through a window in rage, but JPL’s Veronica McGregor just highlighted one in a post on Twitter… Oh hahahahaha, you’re soooo funny mate! See? Satire IS alive and well! Laugh? I thought I’d never start. Seriously tho, this guy [...]

New Dr Who companion revealed…

This is all over the internet now, so I guess I might as well join in…! The BBC has revealed the identity of the actress who will play the new Companion when Matt Smith takes over from David Tennant as Dr Whonext year… That’s 21 year old Karen Gillan, and she’ll be taking over from [...]

35k – again…!

Quick “thank you” to everyone who drops by here, from wherever and for whatever reason. I’ve just hit “35,000″ views. Again. Again? Yes, again. You might recall that a little while ago I actually clocked-up my 35,000th visitor, and celebrated that minor landmark (well, I was chuffed!) with a post about it. A matter of [...]

Loving the machine…

The spectacular servicing of the ailing, ageing Hubble Space Telescope during the recent space shuttle mission STS 125, watched by the world on NASA TV and Twitter, brought up a slightly uncomfortable question in my mind… Is it wrong to have feelings for a machine? No, I don’t mean the “feelings” I have whenever I [...]

Free Again…

  See! She is free again! Lovingly polished and preened she gleams As if brand new; see how like a bird she Soars now; an eagle released to ride the whispered winds Wafting silently from Sol, gliding ’round war- and strife-torn Terra with a grace that makes e’en the hardest heart Feel glad that in [...]

What might have been…?

Confession time – I’m a real sucker for “What if..?” books and articles. You know, the whole alternative history thing: what would have happened, how would the world we know be different, if this hadn’t happened or that person hadn’t died, etc, etc. I lapped up Harry Turtledove’s “Worlds War” science fiction series, describing an [...]

Hubble EVAs – one down, four to go..!

I spent a lot of yesterday – and I mean a lot! – glued to my computer monitor, following the first spacewalk by the crew of shuttle Atlantis as they service the Hubble Space Telescope. By “following”, of course I mean clicking endlessly between NASA TV and Twitter. Following Twitter during the spacewalk was pretty [...]

A busy day “up there”…

Today must rank as one the busiest ever days “up there” in space. Less than an hour ago an Ariane 5 rocket – sorry, a MIGHTY Ariane 5 rocket! – blasted off spectacularly from the ESA space port at Kourou, French Guiana, and succesfully carried two telescopes up into Earth orbit. As you read this [...]

NASA not too worried about shuttle wing ding…

It looks like the space shuttle ATLANTIS was hit by some debris as it thundered up into orbit on Monday. An inspection with cameras mounted on the end of the robot arm yesterday revealed some damage to the thermal tiles along the front edge of the starboard wing… However, detailed study of the images by [...]