** The Official Space Flight Thread - The Space Station and Beyond **

[Tibbz2]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-22579023

That's awesome news

However I was disappointed when it said he won't be up there before 2015!

 

[Cosimo]

Launch of the EUTELSAT 3D satellite from last week:

​

 

[Cosimo]

Another cracker from Mars...

Curiosity at 'Cumberland'

NASA's Mars rover Curiosity used its front left Hazard-Avoidance Camera for this image of the rover's arm over the drilling target "Cumberland" during the 275th Martian day, or sol, of the rover's work on Mars (May 15, 2013).

The rover team plans to use Curiosity's drill to collect a powdered sample from the interior of the rock for analysis by laboratory instruments inside the rover. This is the mission's second rock-drilling target. The rover drove from its position beside the first drilling target, "John Klein," to its position beside Cumberland with drives of 121 inches (308 centimeters) on Sol 273 (May 13) and 26.6 inches (67.5 centimeters) on Sol 275. Curiosity's total odometry on Mars is now 2,385 feet (727 meters).

Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

 

[Cosimo]

​

 

[ubersonic]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-22579023

Yahoo's reporting of this was funny, they originally tried to bill him as the first British astronaut until dozens of people commented about Helen Sharman and Yahoo corrected the article

The is a certain irony that both he and Sharman will be using a Russian space vehicle to visit a station of Russian origin. A pity that the UK has no space program

 

[Cosimo]

Yet another fantastic picture from Mars:

Updated Curiosity Self-Portrait at 'John Klein'

This self-portrait of NASA's Mars rover Curiosity combines dozens of exposures taken by the rover's Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI) during the 177th Martian day, or sol, of Curiosity's work on Mars (Feb. 3, 2013), plus three exposures taken during Sol 270 (May 10, 2013) to update the appearance of part of the ground beside the rover. The updated area, which is in the lower left quadrant of the image, shows gray-powder and two holes where Curiosity used its drill on the rock target "John Klein." The portion has been spliced into a self-portrait that was prepared and released in February (http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA16764), before the use of the drill. The result shows what the site where the self-portrait was taken looked like by the time the rover was ready to drive away from that site in May 2013.

The rover's robotic arm is not visible in the mosaic. MAHLI, which took the component images for this mosaic, is mounted on a turret at the end of the arm. Wrist motions and turret rotations on the arm allowed MAHLI to acquire the mosaic's component images. The arm was positioned out of the shot in the images, or portions of images, used in the mosaic.

Malin Space Science Systems, San Diego, developed, built and operates MAHLI. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., manages the Mars Science Laboratory Project and the mission's Curiosity rover for NASA's Science Mission Directorate in Washington. The rover was designed and assembled at JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena.

Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS

 

[Cosimo]

​

 

[Cosimo]

​

 

[Cosimo]

​

 

[Cosimo]

​

 

[Cosimo]

I can watch these rollout videos over and over again:

​

Expedition 36 aboard Soyuz TMA-09M will launch at 21:31 BST (16:31 EDT) tonight.

 

[Cosimo]

​

 

[Cosimo]

​

 

[Cosimo]

​

 

[SlyReaper]

So, there's a kickstarter for a space telescope.

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1458134548/arkyd-a-space-telescope-for-everyone-0

I'll say it again. A kickstarter for a mother****ing space telescope.

Words cannot describe how exciting I find this.

 

[Glaucus]

Press release thing for the space telescope

Would love the $200 reward but its to expensive.

 

[PhysicsMan94]

So, there's a kickstarter for a space telescope.

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1458134548/arkyd-a-space-telescope-for-everyone-0

I'll say it again. A kickstarter for a mother****ing space telescope.

Words cannot describe how exciting I find this.

An interesting concept, I hope it gets the funding it requires - it could spark a new interest in space exploration and thus secure future funding for space missions in the private sector if it is successful. That can only be a good thing in my opinion!

 

[Westyfield2]

Now that's cool.

 

[Kishywish]

An interesting concept, I hope it gets the funding it requires - it could spark a new interest in space exploration and thus secure future funding for space missions in the private sector if it is successful. That can only be a good thing in my opinion!

August 2015? That sounds awfully ambitious.

 

[SlyReaper]

Would love the $200 reward but its to expensive.

I pledged $200. It entitles me (assuming the fund-raising is successful) to pick a celestial object to point the thing at for one photograph. If and when the time comes, I'll start a thread for ideas of what awesome thing to snap a photo of.