Sunday, March 27, 2016

Super Girl May Not be Renewed


In it's most recent list of programs, CBS has left off what I would consider an eminently renewable program.  Supergirl - even though it out performs other DC programs - The Flash and Arrow showing on the CW and have been renewed.

Other shows that failed to garner a mention were Limitless and Code Black.

Select HERE for more information from Sci-Fi Storm

Bigelow is on the BEAM

It is no surprise that one of the limiting factors in launching a spacecraft is it's
size/weight.

If your like me, you most likely considered Bigelow Aerospace and it's unique inflatable space craft module a concept of the past.

Not so it would appear.  Bigelow Aerospace and NASA will be studying the radiation protection, thermal performance and general operations of expandable habitats in space, with a module called the Bigelow Expandable Activity Module (BEAM) which will be attached and inflated to the ISS.

More information can be garnered from the enclosed video. 


Friday, March 25, 2016

Astronomers have observed the most luminous galaxies ever seen in the universe


Using the 50-meter diameter Large Millimeter Telescope, located on the summit of Sierra Negra, a 15,000-foot extinct volcano in the central state of Puebla, one of Mexico’s highest mountains, astronomers have observed what they are calling “outrageously luminous” galaxies, because there is no scientific terms apply.
The newly observed galaxies are about 10 billion years old and were formed only about four billion years after the Big Bang.
The galaxies brightness is due in part to a phenomenon called gravitational lensing that magnifies light passing near massive objects, making them look about 10 times brighter than they really are.
For the complete article click HERE

Tuesday, March 22, 2016

Beam Me Up Episode 464 is Now Online


Greetings to episode 464 of Beam Me Up.

This week I introduce Charles G Chettiar  with his short story Panic Layer (I play part one)

I start off with a musical select followed by news from the blog: funny video, movie review, Ceres has some weird bright spots, some NASA news and some really fun facts.


 To play episode 464 please press HERE

Monday, March 21, 2016

Space- The Final Beer Frontier

Listener Barry sent me in this hilarious YouTube video

You know the commercials with the hook "The Most Interesting Man"  well here is the ultimate twist...


Friday, March 18, 2016

Review: Gravity


Gravity starring
Directed by Alfonso Cuarón

In  Gravity, Sandra Bullock portrays a mission specialist aboard sts 157, George Clooney a veteran astronaut and mission commander.  

During an EVA to repair the Hubble Space Telescope Bullock and Clooney's characters are informed
that a Russian missile strike on a defunct Russian satellite has create a huge cloud of high speed junk that strikes the shuttle, ISS as well as other craft on the same orbit. 

The balance of the film depicts Bullock's character working to return to Earth.

I was really surprised to find this film on cable tv, but there it was.  The film is mildly technical but brings a boatload of excitement.  There is the obligatory dead body floating into view, plus a variety of HUH? scenes, but for the realistic spaceflight (not as real as Apollo 13 but home-work was done) will thoroughly enjoy Gravity. Both Bullock and Clooney put in excellent efforts. 

I would rate the movie an 8.  Acting was good.  Plus the high moments throughout the film keeps your interest.    

Thursday, March 17, 2016

Bright Spots Observed on Ceres


Ceres is the largest body in the asteroid belt and the only object classed as a dwarf
planet in the asteroid belt.

NASA's Dawn spacecraft has been in orbit around Ceres for more than a year mapping its surface in great detail. One of the biggest surprises has been the discovery of very bright spots, which reflect far more light than their much darker surroundings.

The most prominent of these spots lie inside the crater Occator and suggest that Ceres may be a much more active world than most of its asteroid neighbors. 


For more information, click to  Daily Galaxy article

Wednesday, March 16, 2016

NASA's Scott Kelly Retires After Exemplary Career


NASA astronaut crew member Scott Kelly will retire from the agency, effective April 1. Kelly joined the astronaut corps in 1996 and currently holds the American record for most time spent in space, plus holding the record for longest American spaceflight at 1 year. Kelly flew in space four times, first aboard the shuttle Discovery,STS-103 servicing mission in 1999, with a trip to NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope. On his second mission, STS-118, he crossed the threshold of the International Space Station for the first time as commander of space shuttle Endeavour. He returned to the station for a six-month stay in 2010, commanding Expedition 26.

Full NASA article HERE

Monday, March 07, 2016

13+ Billion Year Old Galaxy Photographed by Hubble


An international team of astronomers, using NASA's Hubble space telescope, has set a new
distance record by measuring the farthest galaxy ever seen in the universe.

This infant galaxy, located in the direction of the constellation of Ursa Major, named GN-z11, was photographed as it was seen 13.4 billion years ago, just 400 million years after the Big Bang.


Full NASA article can be read HERE

Friday, March 04, 2016

Fun Facts from a Fan



Carole sent me in this list of facts that just make you wanna say huummmm

1>  Glass takes one million years to decompose, which means it never wears out and can be recycled an infinite amount of times!

2>  Gold is the only metal that doesn't rust, even if it's buried in the ground for thousands of years.

3>  Your tongue is the only muscle in your body that is attached at only one end.

4>  If you stop getting thirsty, you need to drink more water. When a human body is dehydrated, its thirst mechanism shuts off.

5>  Zero is the only number that cannot be represented by Roman numerals.

6>  Kites were used during the War Between The States to deliver letters and newspapers.

7>  The song, Auld Lang Syne, is sung at the stroke of midnight in almost every English-speaking country in the world to bring in the new year.

8>  Drinking water after eating reduces the acid in your mouth by 61 percent.

9>  Peanut oil is used for cooking in submarines because it doesn't smoke unless it's heated above 450F.

10>  The roar that we hear when we place a seashell next to our ear is not the ocean, but rather the sound of blood surging through the veins in the ear.

11>  Nine out of every 10 living things live in the ocean.

12>  The banana cannot reproduce itself. It can be propagated only by the hand of man.

13>  Airports at higher altitudes require a longer airstrip due to lower air density.

14>  The University of Alaska spans four time zones.

15>  The tooth is the only part of the human body that cannot heal itself.

16>  In ancient Greece, tossing an apple to a girl was a traditional proposal of marriage. Catching it meant she accepted.

17>  Warner Communications paid 28 million for the copyright to the song Happy Birthday.

18>  Intelligent people have more zinc and copper in their hair.

19> A comet's tail  always points away from the sun.

20> The Swine Flu vaccine in 1976 caused more death and illness than the disease it was intended to prevent.

21>  Caffeine increases the power of aspirin and other painkillers, that is why it is found in some medicines.

22>  The military salute is a motion that evolved from medieval times, when knights in armor raised their visors to reveal their identity.

23>  If you get into the bottom of a well or a tall chimney and look up, you can see stars, even in the middle of the day.

24>  When a person dies, hearing is the last sense to go. The first sense lost is sight.

25>  In ancient times strangers shook hands to show that they were unarmed.

26>  Strawberries are the only fruits whose seeds grow on the outside.

27>  Avocados have the highest calories of any fruit at 167 calories per hundred grams.

28>  The moon moves about two inches away from the Earth each year.

29>  The Earth gets 100 tons heavier every day due to falling space dust.

30>  Due to earth's gravity it is impossible for mountains to be higher than 49,212.60 feet.

31>  Mickey Mouse is known as "Topolino" in Italy.

32>  Soldiers do not march in step when going across bridges because they could set up a vibration which could be sufficient to knock the bridge down.

33>  Everything weighs one percent less at the equator.

34>  For every extra kilogram carried on a space flight, 530 kg of excess fuel are needed at lift-off.

35>  The letter J does not appear anywhere on the periodic table of the elements.

Wednesday, March 02, 2016

Record Setting Mission Ends March 1 2016

 
After spending a total of 340 days aboard the International Space Station, NASA astronaut Scott Kelly and Russian cosmonaut Mikhail Kornienko  returned to Earth March 1 at 10:38pm, aboard their Soyuz TMA-18M spacecraft.



You can read more by clicking HERE  

And of course NASA.GOV  

or NASA.GOV/tv

Tuesday, March 01, 2016

Beam Me Up #463 Now Online


Talking points:

Still feeling maudlin with the passing of David Bowie, I start with one of my favorite cuts off the Young American album.

Next it is on to the Beam Me Up blog.
NASA astronaut Edgar Mitchel, of Apollo 14 fame and one of only 12 people to have set foot on the
Moon has passed at 85.

SyFy has renewed the Magicians for a second season.

ESA’s lander Philae, launched by the Rosetta mother craft, has been declared dead.

Record setting applications for NASA’s  2017  astronaut class.

NASA’S WFirst space telescope is looking to gather more data than hubble.

Apollo 10 heard some weird noise while passing around the back side of the moon.

Finally the story for this episode: Images by David Scholes.