Category: Space
Branson unveils White Knight II – Virgin Galactic's commercial spaceship
For some, the dream of shrugging off earth’s seeming inescapable pull just got a big step closer. Sir Richard Branson has just finished the grand unveiling of his first commercial space craft in the Mojave desert.
'Aliens have visited Earth' says ex-NASA astronaut Dr Edgar Mitchell
I feel rather sorry for the sixth man to walk on the moon aka Dr Edgar Micthell. Here he is, on radio, telling the world exactly what they want to hear and I’m about to sit and just take the piss. I can’t help it, but I promise to be gentle Dr M, I promise.
So, the Apollo 14 veteran spills the lot:
“I happen to have been privileged enough to be in on the fact that we’ve been visited on this planet and the UFO phenomena is real…
YouTube Hits: The moon passing in front of the Earth
Now just before we all rush out to the boozer, take a second to remember how small we all are and, basically, how bloody brilliantly mind-blowing space is. Here are pictures from the stars of what it looks like when the moon passes in front of the Earth – from 31 million miles away.
Buy Darth Vader's T.I.E. Fighter and other goodies at the Profiles in History movie props auction
You know all that saving you’ve been doing? No, not real saving. I mean like money tied up in your house and anything you might have stashed away for your children’s education. Yeah, well it’s time to cash it in because there’s an auction about to take place for a truck load of movie props including Marty McFly’s hoverboard and Darth Vader’s T.I.E. Fighter from Star Wars…
Send your name to the moon with NASA's LRO mission
It may take decades to qualify as an astronaut but you can get your name on the moon in a matter of minutes. Since 1st May NASA has been inviting people of all creeds and nations to sign a register online that’ll be taken up there in America’s return flight to our favourite hunk of cheese in the sky.
The deadline was at the end of last month but it’s now been extended to 25th July…
The… brace yourselves… TARDIS wardrobe
The must-have Christmas gift of 2008 for the 3-11-year-old demographic, it is, and we can hardly believe such an amazing item exists, a TARDIS wardrobe! It is such a great idea. One of the world’s best ideas, alongside automatically slicing bread with a machine and trainers with air in the soles for extra bounciness.
Fashioned out of the finest canvas and non-sustainable pine, the TARDIS wardrobe boasts a “single rail” and “zippable doors.” But it’s not about features. It’s about shape and colour, and saying “POLICE BOX” in the correct font.
It is also the ideal Christmas gift for those in the 33-49-year-old sci-fi fan demographic, along with some Babylon 5 slippers…
Moon water discovery throws doubt on moon's origins
Recent testing of ancient moon rock collected by astronauts in the 70s has found evidence of water. Scientists have been applying new and more powerful techniques on the volcanic glass ‘pebbles’ than were available back when were popping back forth to our orbiting neighbour.
Fancy your very own spy satellite? Yours for just $10m
Our lives are monitored by an increasingly sophisticated array of digital observers, be it from CCTV, speed cameras, internet usage monitoring, those blokes from TV licensing that won’t leave me alone… There’s no way around it, but what if – WHAT IF? – you could have your very own eye-in-the-sky, silently watching everyone and everything around you? That would take the edge off, right?
NASA probe discovers that Mercury is shrinking
Try not to panic – Mercury, the smallest resident of our close-knit solar system, is shrinking. Scientists studying data sent back by the Messenger probe, launched in 2004, reveal that it’s disappearing; withering away like a long-forgotten prune (not their words).
Space shocker – Voyager probe finds that Solar System isn't round
Ancient space probes sent out on a long-distance research mission during the 1970s are continuing to send back valuable data 30 years after they first launched. The Voyager 1 and Voyager 2 spacecraft have each now entered a vast region of space on the very edge of the solar system, a point where the solar wind blowing outward meets the interstellar wind blowing in.
