Perhaps I spoke too soon with our "simulated" footage of the satellite strike. The Pentagon has released video of the successful missile strike:
Click through to see a vid of the satellite-busting missile taking off.
Continue reading 'UPDATE: Satellite destruction mission video footage' >
Woo-hoo! I don't know if I'm more excited about the success of our military's efforts to destroy a wayward satellite because 1) it's a bold tactical, interstellar move, or 2) now we'll get to stop writing about it. Either way, the Navy is "80-90 percent confident" that a missile aboard the U.S.S. Lake Erie took out most of the spy satellite, including that tank of poisonous hydrazine that caused such a hubbub. There's no official video of the takedown, but you can imagine that it went a little something like this:
War is bad and all, but recent news of an errant satellite and our military's plans to blow it out of the sky has stoked the fires of our Millennium Falcon-loving youth. Luckily, our thoughtful, do-gooder big brother spent less time breaking out the action figures and actually investigated the possibility of the U.S. and China engaging in a protracted arms race in outer space. Basically, the Pentagon is already thinking about it seriously, but astronomical (heh) costs and mitigating factors (debris in orbit from space battles could interfere with essential communications satellites) might hold us or the Chinese back from building a Death Star anytime soon.
Even cooler than the article, though, is the space weapons slideshow our sibling provided at no extra charge. It covers possible space weapons, connected technology, and the feasibility and costs of getting said super-weapons off the ground. Badass entries include: a ground-based antisatellite laser, kinetic-energy interceptors, offensive satellites, and space-based hypersonic bombers (pictured left). Yes! Way to go, bro!
Continue reading 'Pew! Pew! Is an arms race in space on the horizon?' >
Quentin Schwinn, NASA
Despite a troubling four-inch block of ice that had NASA techs running around with visions of flaming tragedy two hours before launch, the shuttle Discovery took off around 11:38 this morning without a hitch. Commander Pamela Melroy is only the second female shuttle commander in history, and she leads a team who plan to perform the most complex orbital additions ever to everyone's favorite crumbling camper-van-in-space: the International Space Station.
The crew will help install Harmony, an Italian-built living compartment the size of a bus. No word on whether Harmony includes Natuzzi leather couches or DeLonghi espresso machines, but a group of 130 schoolchildren who named it in a competition got to attend the launch.
Continue reading 'Discovery shuttle launches, fails to inspire George Lucas (hopefully)' >
