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robot guyrobot guyI generally cover space and technology issues, along with politics from a libertarian viewpoint. They called me mad at the academy, mad I tell you... the villagers say that I am insane, but my monster will show them that I am really kind and benevol Articles
private property in space, redux
2007-12-20 02:48:00 Recently in Reuters there was a rather tongue-in-cheek article about the increase in value of lunar property over the course of 2007. Mark Whittington posted (scroll down to December 18, 2007, 9:20 am; I can't make his permalinks work properly) that he was...somewhat agog at the news that lunar land prices are booming. Mind, no one can actually own lunar land, for various reasons, and people who think that they do actually own pretty pieces of paper. Still, it shows that there is a market if an arrangement could be made for people to legally own lunar real estate.It is reasonable to assume that Mark's assertion that "no on can actually own lunar land" is based upon the 1967 UN Outer Space Treaty, since he wrote about this last year in an article in Associated Content:The pertinent article of the treaty is Article II, which reads, "Outer space, including the moon and other celestial bodies, is not subject to national appropriation by claim of sovereignty, by means of use or occupa... More About: Property , Private , Prop , Pert
Space Video of the Day is moving
2007-12-18 02:25:00 Over the last half a year I have posted a space video of the day on most days. At the same time, my actual blogging here has shriveled away to nearly nothing. So, I'm going to move the space video of the day off this blog entirely, and starting tomorrow will be posting it instead at Space Feeds; that site is a more natural location for the space video of the day anyhow. I'll still be posting things here, but rather than daily space videos it will be more conventional blogging, like I did for the first four years on Robot Guy. More About: Video , Moving
Space Video of the Day - 071217
2007-12-18 02:22:00 Today's space video of the day is the final episode of the 1997 documentary miniseries Stephen Hawking's Universe; this episode is entitled the Answer to Everything. It doesn't get much more comprehensive than that.Space Video of the Day Archive
comments
2007-12-16 07:46:00 I have decided to allow comments throuh the Blogger system in addition to the Haloscan comments. Previously I did not moderate comments that came through Blogger, but I had a lot of problems with spam, so now the comments that go through Blogger will be moderated. More About: Comments
Space Video of the Day - 071215
2007-12-16 07:35:00 Today's space video of the day is episode 5 of the 1997 documentary miniseries Stephen Hawking's Universe; this episode is entitled Black Holes and Beyond.Space Video of the Day Archive
Space Video of the Day - 071213
2007-12-14 06:01:00 Today's space video of the day continues the 1997 miniseries Stephen Hawking's Universe. This is episode 4: On the Dark Side.Space Video of the Day Archive
carnival time
2007-12-14 04:44:00 The 33rd Carnival of Space is up at Universe Today. If I'm not mistaken, this is the first time that the folks at Astronomy Picture of the Day have contributed to the carnival of space. More About: Time
Space Video of the Day - 071212
2007-12-13 01:31:00 Today's space video of the day continues the 1997 documentary miniseries Stephen Hawking's Universe with part 3: Cosmic Alchemy. More About: Video , Space
Space Video of the Day - 071210
2007-12-11 07:44:00 Earlier today, Space X released a monster update of their activities. Included with the update were links to several videos; unfortunately, whether through incorrect URLs in the update or overloading of their servers, I was unable to watch any of their videos. What I do have is today's Space Video of the Day, taken about a month ago at SpaceX's BFTS facility (the acronym officially stands for Big Falcon Test Stand, however one would be excused for thinking that the original meaning of the F was something different, as the BFTS stands 238 feet tall). This is a full 170-second test of their Merlin 1-C engine, which will power all Falcon-9 rockets in the future.It should be noted that the amount spent by SpaceX on developing the Falcon-1, Falcon-9, the Dragon (seven-member crew capsule), several completely new rocket engines, the BFTS, and their facilities in California, Texas, Florida, and the equatorial Pacific since the company's inception six years ago totals about what NASA s...
Space Video of the Day - 071209
2007-12-10 06:47:00 Today's space video of the day is a news conference given earlier today by NASA. On four out of the last seven launches, the engine cut-off sensors have failed during the shuttle external tank filling process, and it happened yet again today. After over a hundred launches they still haven't figured out the problem with this relatively simple back-up part, which doesn't speak well for the level of competence of those involved with Shuttle operations - no matter what lame excuses you hear in this video. With the ECO sensors they seem to be repeating the mistake which brought down the space shuttle Columbia: "oh, this particular problem hasn't killed anyone yet, so maybe it isn't that big of a deal".Also, I am pretty sure that the external tank being used on this particular shuttle launch, which was to launch the ESA's Columbus module to the international space station, is the same tank that was so heavily damaged by hail in a launch attempt earlier in this year - and NASA sti... More About: Video , Space
Space Video of the Day - 071207
2007-12-08 05:12:00 Today's space video of the day continues the 1997 miniseries Stephen Hawking's Universe. This is episode 2: the Big Bang. I'm going to be trying something new with the video today, putting all five segments into a playlist; the segments should automatically follow one another within the single video frame.Space Video of the Day Archive
Carnival of Space #32
2007-12-06 04:09:00 Welcome to the 32nd Carnival of Space . Since these things generally have some sort of theme, this week's Carnival will start out on the ground and get progressively farther from Terra Firma.We'll start out with world traveller and cosmologist Louise Riofrio of A Babe in the Universe, whose travels have taken her to New York on the way to Princeton. While in New York she visited Grand Central Station, with its celestial model on the ceiling, and finished with a night at the American Museum of Natural History. There is no word on whether Louise wore her skin-tight spacesuit in the museum.With the price of oil flirting with the $90 per barrel mark, Darnell Clayton of Colony Worlds shows that the way to make space relevant to the average person is the energy, stupid! Whether it is mining of Helium-3 or solar power satellites, outer space holds the promise of cheap, clean energy.Next, we take a trip to the moon. China's Chang'e spacecraft began taking pictures of the moon's sur...
Space Video of the Day - 071204
2007-12-05 06:49:00 Today's space video of the day is from the 1997 miniseries Stephen Hawking's Universe. This is episode 1: Seeing is Believing.Space Video of the Day Archive
Space Video of the Day - 071203
2007-12-04 06:36:00 Today's space video is an update on the Venus Express spacecraft produced by the Euopean Space Agency.Space Video of the Day Archive
Space Video of the Day - 071202
2007-12-03 03:42:00 Today's space video of the day is taken from one of my favorite (and one of the best) science fiction movies ever. These are several scenes from the 1950 classic, Destination Moon.takeoffbig troublelandingSpace Video of the Day Archive
Space Video of the Day - 071201
2007-12-02 01:41:00 Today's space video of the day is from the Google Tech Talk series, and is entitled Beyond Einstein: From the Big Bang to Black Holes. Space Video of the Day Archive
Space Video of the Day - 071128
2007-11-29 05:03:00 It isn't often that I find old movies that have become part of the public domain, particularly a movie that is space-themed. So, I was quite happy to find a classic of the genre - if, by "the genre", one means "really really really bad science fiction". It has everything: a Big Star (Bela Lugosi)! Zombies! Aliens! Zombie Aliens! So, without further ado, allow me to present today's space video of the day: Plan 9 From Outer Space ! Space Video of the Day Archive
Space Video of the Day - 071127
2007-11-28 02:03:00 Sorry about the lack of posting over the previous week; I've been busier than a one-legged man in an ass kicking contest. Regular posting of space videos resumes today with a look at the New Horizons spacecraft's closest approach to Jupiter, which took place in late February of this year.Space Video of the Day Archive
Space Video of the Day - 071120
2007-11-21 05:09:00 Today's space video of the day is again from the History Channel's series, The Universe, with this episode entitled the Life and Death of a Star. As an aside, I want to point out that Keith Cowing at NASAwatch has also started posting space videos fairly regularly; be sure to check his videos out.Space Video of the Day Archive
Space Video of the Day - 071118
2007-11-18 19:46:00 Occasionally a large company will realize the value of YouTube. One such company is National Geographic, which has uploaded more than two hundred videos to the site. Today's space video of the day is produced by National Geographic, taking us inside the eye of a solar storm.Space Video of the Day Archive
space carnival
2007-11-16 15:30:00 The Carnival of Space #29 went up yesterday at Riding with Robots on the High Frontier. Check it out.
Space Video of the Day - 071116
2007-11-16 15:26:00 Today's space video is taken from the History channel series, Universe. This episode is entitled the Most Dangerous Places, and describes magnetars, black holes, supermassive black holes, galaxy collisions, quasars and blazars.Space Video of the Day Archive
Space Video of the Day - 071115
2007-11-15 08:10:00 An "earthrise" is only visible from objects which orbit the moon. Japan's KAYUGA spacecraft is doing that right now, and prouced this (high definition) video of an earthrise and a setting earth. There's no sound in this space video of the day; in space, no one can hear you giggle.Space Video of the Day Archive
Space Video of the Day - 071113
2007-11-13 15:27:00 On Sunday the Amateur Space flight Association in Housoton test fired their 2000 pound thrust liquid-fuelled rocket motor; the test is today's Space Video of the Day. It looks like the only casualty was a camera placed too close to the exhaust.Space Video of the Day Archive
Space Video of the Day - 071111
2007-11-12 05:09:00 Today's space video of the day is a documentary about New Horizons, the mission to Pluto.Update: here are parts 3 and 4:Space Video of the Day Archive
Never Forget
2007-11-11 18:33:00 In Flanders fields the poppies blowBetween the crosses, row on row,That mark our place; and in the skyThe larks, still bravely singing, flyScarce heard amid the guns below.We are the Dead. Short days agoWe lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,Loved, and were loved, and now we lieIn Flanders fields.Take up our quarrel with the foe:To you from failing hands we throwThe torch; be yours to hold it high.If ye break faith with us who dieWe shall not sleep, though poppies growIn Flanders fields.? John McCrae
Space Video of the Day - 071110
2007-11-10 21:08:00 Sometimes I think that the only part of NASA that is worth anything is the Jet Propulsion Lab. If you look at the last several years, the majorly cool missions - the ones where the edge of the envelope of science are being pushed - are all being done by JPL. Today's space video of the day shows JPL's latest innovation, a robot platform called ATHELETE. There are several things I like about this ATHELETE robot. First of all, it can easily be envisioned as a common platform for plenty of future robotics missions. The design is so versatile - with the legs useable as wheels or legs or tool actuators - that dozens of future missions could all be accomplished with this same platform as a basis. Secondly, I can see how this design could be packed into a launch vehicle; when all the legs are folded up, one ends up with a hexagonal prism less than a foot tall. Third, there are lots of cameras - at least a dozen pairs of stereo cameras available, surrounding the robot body and one pa... More About: Video , Space
New Comments
2007-11-08 15:35:00 A persistent spammer has forced me to shut down the Blogger comments, as there was no way to filter that person out using Blogger. However, I still want legitimate comments, so I have added Haloscan commenting to the blog. I have kept the Blogger comments in my blog template, so people searching through the archives can still read those; however, I am the only one who can post new comments via the Blogger commenting system. Anyone can use the Haloscan comments, but if I get spammers in the future then at least I can filter them out via their IP address. We'll see how it goes. More About: Comments
Space Video of the Day - 071108
2007-11-08 15:31:00 Today's space video of the day shows some animations of possible future moon bases, space stations, and cities on the moon.Space Video of the Day Archive
Space Video of the Day - 071106
More articles from this author:2007-11-07 04:56:00 This is a little different for the space video of the day. It is a speech by Burt Rutan given in 2005 to the National Space Society, basically tearing NASA lots of new orifices. More About: Video 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 |
