View of Earth from a camera on V-2 #13, launched October 24, 1946.

On October 24, 1946, not long after the end of World War II and years before the Sputnik satellite opened the space age, a group of soldiers and scientists in the New Mexico desert saw something new and wonderful —the first pictures of Earth as seen from space. [...] read more
—Source: “The First Photo From Space” By Tony Reichhardt, Air & Space Magazine, November 1st, 2006.

The Google Lunar X PRIZE is a $30 million competition for the first privately funded team to send a robot to the moon, travel 500 meters and transmit video, images and data back to the Earth.

Control Room: ”South Wales Police, what’s your emergency?”

Caller: “It’s not really. I just need to inform you that across the mountain there’s a bright stationary object.”

Control room: ”Right.”

Caller: ”If you’ve got a couple of minutes perhaps you could find out what it is? It’s been there at least half an hour and it’s still there.”

Control: ”It’s been there for half an hour. Right. Is it actually on the mountain or in the sky?”

Caller: ”It’s in the air.”

Control: ”I will send someone up there now to check it out.”

Caller: ”OK.”

The mystery was soon solved, as the exchange between control and an officer at the scene, makes clear.

Control: “Alpha Zulu 20, this object in the sky, did anyone have a look at it?”

Officer: ”Yes, it’s the moon. Over.”

– «Police say UFO was just the Moon», BBC News, 4 juillet 2008.

» Via Neatorama

In a surprising and potentially troubling request, the new space station robot known as Dextre demanded that astronauts refer to it in the future at “Dextre the Magnificent.” Brandishing power tools that would make any handyperson blush, the mobile servicing system thanked humans for creating it and promised a glorious future where humans would retain an important role in the new robot order.

– NASA, Astronomy Picture of the Day, «New Space Station Robot Asks to be Called “Dextre the Magnificent”».

Celestis, Inc.(www.celestis.com), the pioneer and global leader in Memorial Spaceflight, announced today that it has reached agreement with two companies to launch payloads containing human cremated remains to the surface of the Moon as soon as 2009.

– Celestis, Memorial Spaceflights, Luna Services, press release, March 26, 2008.

» Space burial (Wikipedia)

» Celestis (Wikipedia)

Arthur C. Clarke (1917-2008)

» Sir Arthur C. Clark: 90th Birthday Reflections

BEIJING, 11 décembre (Xinhua) — La caméra CCD (charge-coupled  device) installée sur Chang’e-1, la première sonde lunaire  chinoise, a commencé à photographier la face cachée de la Lune, a annoncé mardi l’Administration nationale de l’Espace de Chine (CNSA). […] Lire la suite

“It feels magnetic,” he says, turning his hands slowly in the reflected glow of the light from the almost full moon. The young professional from Colorado is among a growing number of curious people beating a path to this patch of scrub-strewn land out in the Arizona desert to bask in light from the world’s first moonbeam collector. [Lire la suite] [Voir la vidéo]

– GAYNOR, Tim (2007). «Arizona moonlight collector», Reuters, mercredi 5 décembre.

BEIJING (Reuters, Monday December 3, 2007) – China has dismissed Internet gossip that its first photo of the moon taken from a lunar orbiter might have been plagiarized from NASA, local media said on Monday.The country launched its first lunar probe, the Chang’e 1, in October and released a photo featuring a patch of grey moon surface splotched with craters last week, hailing the mission as a “complete success.”But some Chinese Internet users have questioned its originality after comparing it with an almost identical lunar image from the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration in 2005.

“There is absolutely no forgery,” Ouyang Ziyuan, chief scientist for the lunar probe, told the Beijing News. [Lire la suite...]

» Voir aussi «La Chine publie sa première image de la Lune»

BEIJING, 26 novembre (Xinhua) – La Chine a publié lundi la  première image de la Lune recueillie par Chang’e-1, le premier  satellite d’exploration lunaire du pays, marquant la pleine  réussite de son projet d’exploration lunaire. […] lire la suite

The onboard high definition camera of the moon explorer “KAGUYA”, which is under initial functional verification, successfully acquired the world’s first high definition images of an “Earth-rise” and “Earth-set”. It was also the world’s first HD images of the Earth from about 380,000 km away in space. Image: (C) JAXA/NHK

—Source: JAXA | Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency

The theory proposed in this paper represents a comprehensive unification program, describing all fields of the standard model and gravity as parts of a uniquely beautiful mathematical structure. The principal bundle connection and its curvature describe how the E8 manifold twists and turns over spacetime, reproducing all known fields and dynamics through pure geometry. Some aspects of this theory are not yet completely understood, and until they are it should be treated with appropriate skepticism. However, the current match to the standard model and gravity is very good. Future work will either strengthen the correlation to known physics and produce successful predictions for the LHC, or the theory will encounter a fatal contradiction with nature. The lack of extraneous structures and free parameters ensures testable predictions, so it will either succeed or fail spectacularly. If E8 theory is fully successful as a theory of everything, our universe is an exceptionally beautiful shape. […] Read more…

—A. Garrett Lisi, “An Exceptionally Simple Theory of Everything”, submitted on 6 Nov 2007, arXiv.org.

See also:

• “Surfer dude stuns physicists with theory of everything”,� By Roger Highfield, Science Editor, Telegraph.co.uk, 2007-11-14.
• «Une ‹théorie du tout› jette le trouble chez les physiciens», par Stéphane Foucart, LeMonde.fr, 2007-11-19.

1999, August 28: FIRST WOMAN ON THE MOON is realized in ten hours. During a short morning meeting with the crew, Aleksandra Mir draws a sketch of a crater in the sand. The 200×300 square-meter full-size landscape is thereafter completely improvised by the workers themselves. During the process of digging, tons of garbage and broken glass are revealed in the sand. It is collected and placed out on tables, making for an impromptu ‘Museum of Lunar Surface Findings’ to which the public contributes all day. By the afternoon, the water has unexpectedly risen to fill the craters, creating numerous little lakes for kids to play in. Everyone is taking pictures of everyone. And at sunset, the flag finally graces the highest hill, a champagne bottle is cracked open and the public is welcomed to join the astronauts on the moon. One person declares himself ‘The First Black Man on the Moon’, another, ‘The First German’. […] Read more

By Anthony Young, Monday, July 25, 2005

Women have tried to get into space ever since Project Mercury. That subject has been ably covered by Martha Ackmann in her book, The Mercury 13: The Untold Story of Thirteen American Women and the Dream of Space Flight published in 2003. The subject of women in space was expanded in Almost Heaven: The Story of Women in Space written by Yale historian Bettyann Kevles, also published in 2003. Of course, no American woman flew during Mercury, Gemini, or Apollo; only the Soviets flew a single female cosmonaut and then for political advantage—read propaganda. It was the Cold War. NASA wouldn’t accept women applicants to the astronaut corps until 1978. The first American woman to fly into space aboard the space shuttle was Sally Ride in 1983, and the glass stratosphere was finally shattered. However, the names of the many women who followed aboard the space shuttle can only be learned through a search on the web. Practically anyone can name the Mercury Seven, but the first seven American women in space is a question for a game show. Sadly, these female pioneers of space are an enigma and virtually unknown today. Nevertheless, they paved the way, and that way now points to the Moon and eventually Mars. […] Read more…

NASA TV provides live coverage of missions and other agency events as well as resources for news media, educators and students, and the general public.

By Maijinn Chen, Payload Development & Integration, Bigelow Aerospace.

Bingo in space? This must be a Vegas idea. From the land of slot machines in grocery stores and poolside blackjack comes the next generation of gaming —space bingo. The Bigelow Aerospace-developed payload is the only bingo game of its kind. It is set to be launched with Genesis II in early 2007, and should be up and running by the middle of the year. This payload includes a unique enclosure design that reduces material weight while being structurally sound. It can autonomously mix and select bingo balls using a network of fans and solenoid activated levers. Its interior is adorned with space graphics and color lights set to the game cycle, and it houses 75 balls marked from B1 to O75. This is no blue-hair grandmothers’ plastic dome with a crank handle. But gamblers take note: There is no gambling involved here. Bigelow Aerospace isn’t a casino. “The bingo payload is meant to generate interest in the Genesis II mission by providing the public with a relatable in-flight experiment,” said Casey Harr, a robotic engineer on the bingo design team. “Through the Internet, those browsing the Bigelow site can feel that they’re directly connected to the spacecraft.” Bingo has never been so cool. […] read more…

Reconnaissant que l’exploration de l’espace représente un défi qu’aucun pays ne peut relever à lui seul, 14 agences spatiales se sont concertées pour élaborer un cadre qui définira et guidera leurs activités de collaboration dans les futures missions d’exploration spatiale. Il en ressort une vision pour l’exploration robotique et humaine de l’espace essentiellement axée sur des destinations du Système Solaire où l’on pourrait un jour vivre et travailler. […] Lire la suite

—Source: Flashespace.com

La conquête de l’espace est sur le point d’entrer dans une nouvelle phase où les nations vont coopérer en vue d’explorer le système solaire.
L’époque de la course à l’espace, qui a duré tout au long de la guerre froide, est bel et bien révolue. Aujourd’hui l’humanité entre dans une troisième phase où les nations vont travailler ensemble dans un esprit de découverte. […] Lire la suite

—Source: Nouvel Obs

Il y a 2 heures
WASHINGTON (AFP) — La propension de la Nasa à resserrer les cordons de la bourse pourrait causer une catastrophe d’ampleur planétaire, se sont indignés jeudi des parlementaires américains en accusant l’agence spatiale de négliger la surveillance des astéroïdes. La Nasa s’est défendue en expliquant que les risques qu’un astéroïde de la taille de celui qui a rayé les dinosaures de la surface de la Terre entre en collision avec la planète étaient “trop infimes” pour y consacrer un grand budget. […] Lire la suite

—Source: AFP

[Father] “Hello Frank!
[Mother] —Happy birthday, darling!
[Father] —Happy birthday! Many happy returns of the day.
[Mother] —[…]
[Son, talking to Hal] — A bit higher, Hal.
[Father] — Now, Mother and I are both feeling wonderfull, too. Ray and sally were going to be here, too, but at the last minute Ray’s back went bad on him again.

[Mother] —How do you like your cake, dear?
[Father] —Looks great, desn’t it? Sorry you can’t join us.
[Mother] —ya.
[Father] —Oh, I ran into Bob the other day. He said to be sure and wish you a happy birthday.
[Mother] —All my students made me promise to send their best wishes, too. You know they talk about you all the time in the classroom. Frank, you’re a big celebrity in the second grade. You know we were on television last week?
[Father] —Oh, yes! Yes! Your mother and I and Dave’s parent were interviewed about what we thought of our illustrious sons. You can imagine what we told’em. I think it’s being broadcast next thursday. Perhaps you’ll be able to listen in.
[Mother] —Oh, we were thrilled about Elaine and Bill, dear. I’ll be glad to get the present for you, but please tell me how much I can spend.
[Father] —Oh, yes, Frank, about your AGS-19 payments, I think I straightened it out for you. I talked to the Accounting Office in Houston yesterday, and they said you should be receiving your higher rates of pay by next month.
Well Frank, I can’t think of anything else to say, now.
[Mother] —Oh, give our love to Dave.
[Father] —Oh yes, be sure to give him my best regards.
We wish you the very happiest of birthdays.
[Mother] —God bless.
[Father] —All the best, son.
[Mother & Father] — ♬ Happy birthday to you! ♪happy birthday to you! ♫ happy birthday dear Frank! ♬ happy birthday to you! ♫
[Father] —See you next wednesday.”

—Stanley Kucbrick, 2001: A Space Odyssey. 01:04:18–01:05:44

Nixon: «En cet instant inestimable dans l’histoire de l’Humanité, tous les peuples de la Terre ne forment plus qu’un».
Armstrong: —Merci, monsieur le président…»

—Source: L’Internaute

PEKIN (Reuters) — La Chine, troisième pays à avoir envoyé un homme dans l’espace à bord de sa propre fusée, a l’ambition de construire une station spatiale d’ici 2020, a annoncé un scientifique, mais les autorités se sont empressées de démentir l’information.
Il n’existe aujourd’hui dans le monde qu’une seule installation de ce type, la Station spatiale internationale (ISS), fruit de la coopération entre 16 pays dont les Etats-Unis et la Russie.
La station chinoise sera “un petit atelier spatial de 20 tonnes”, a déclaré au quotidien China Daily Long Lehao, le concepteur de Long March 3A, le véhicule de lancement de la première sonde orbitale lunaire de la Chine. L’ISS fait 400 tonnes. […] Lire la suite

—Source: Le Monde

CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida (AP) — Astronauts were allowed to fly after flight surgeons and other astronauts warned they were so drunk they posed a flight-safety risk on at least two occasions, an aviation weekly reported Thursday.
—CNN

Pour 200 000 $, on pourra, d’ici peu, s’offrir une balade en vaisseau. L’État du Nouveau-Mexique construit un aéroport, avec la collaboration du PDG de Virgin, le milliardaire Richard Branson. […] Lire la suite

—source: Philippe GRANGEREAU, «Libération», édition du 11 avril 2007.

How did this unusual Martian rock form? This atypical two-toned rock was photographed in March 2007 by Mar Exploration Rover Spirit as it continued its mission of discovery on the red planet. Finding unusual rocks is not unusual for Spirit or its twin rover Opportunity.

– NASA Image Gallery. «The Atypical on Mars», mars 2007.

«Le module doit son nouveau nom aux écoliers d’Amérique, pour lesquels un concours de la meilleure appellation a été organisé. 2200 écoliers de 32 Etats ont participé à ce concours. Harmony s’est avérée l’appellation la plus valable aux yeux des spécialistes de la NASA. Selon eux, ce nom correspond bien à l’idée même de la construction de la Station spatiale internationale qui exige une certaine harmonie entre ses pays partenaires», rapporte vendredi une dépêche du site Internet russe «Les Nouvelles astronautiques».

—source: RIA Novosti

CAP CANAVERAL —«Cher journal»… Trois fois par semaine, les deux astronautes américains à bord de la Station spatiale internationale (ISS) consignent leurs pensées et impressions dans un journal intime. Il sera analysé pour mieux comprendre ce qui se passe à 350km de la Terre et préparer des missions encore plus lointaines, sur la Lune ou sur Mars.

Ont-ils bon moral? De quoi manquent-ils? Supportent-ils leurs co-locataires? Rien ne peut mieux qu’un journal refléter la réalité d’un séjour de six mois dans l’étroitesse du vaisseau. «Je suis sûre que cela ressemble à la rubrique des ragots, mais le but est de repérer les caractéristiques qui feront le succès de ces expéditions», a expliqué l’astronaute Sunita Williams en décembre, juste avant d’arriver à la station spatiale. […]

Stuster, docteur en anthropologie, a divisé les messages en 18 catégories, soulignant si le ton est positif, négatif ou neutre. Il a aussi pris en compte le moment de la mission où le message est rédigé. Selon lui, les astronautes soufrent de ce qu’on pourrait appeler «le blues du troisième quart»: le nombre de messages positifs diminue au cours de la troisième partie de leur voyage.

—source: NouvelObs