Author Archives: launiusr

Redirect: “The Impact of Sally Ride’s Contributions in Space and Education”


On Friday, May 17, 2013, we held at the National Air and Space Museum here in Washington, D.C., a wonderful program on Sally Ride and her place in the history of spaceflight and science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) education. … Continue reading

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“Space Oddity” Sung by Chris Hadfield


This is really fun! Chris Hadfield, Commander of the International Space Station sings “Space Oddity” written by David Bowie to the world.

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Wednesday’s Book Review: “Near-Earth Objects: Finding Them Before They Find Us”


Near-Earth Objects: Finding Them Before They Find Us. By Donald H. Yeomans. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2012. Hardcover with dust jacket. ISBN: 978-0-691-14929-5. 200 pages. 20 half tones. 19 line illus. 6 tables. 6 x 9 in. $24.94 USD. … Continue reading

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Redirect: “The Top 5 Underrated Sci-Fi Movie Masterpieces”


There is an excellent post available here on the “The Top 5 Underrated Sci-Fi Movie Masterpieces.” Many of these received broad release and did not do as well at the box office as the major studios would like. Others had limited … Continue reading

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Exoplanets: The Kepler-62 System Compared to Our Solar System


This is so cool. This graphic diagram comes courtesy of the stunning Kepler mission searching for extra-solar planets. Here is the description of this poster: The diagram compares the planets of the inner solar system to Kepler-62, a five-planet system … Continue reading

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Wednesday’s Book Review: “The Culture of the Cold War”


The Culture of the Cold War.  By Stephen Whitfield. Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1991, second edition 1996. I was preconditioned to appreciate this book when I first picked it up for a reading. I have been devouring studies … Continue reading

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Is Space Tourism Soon to Become a Reality?


With the successful test flight of Virgin Galactic’s SpaceShipTwo (SS2) at the end of April, 2013, we are one step closer to commercial space tourism. This is not orbital tourism, of course, but the ability to fly above 100 km … Continue reading

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Wednesday’s Book Review: “Implosion: Lessons from National Security, High Reliability Spacecraft, Electronics, and the Forces Which Changed Them”


Implosion: Lessons from National Security, High Reliability Spacecraft, Electronics, and the Forces Which Changed Them. By L. Parker Temple. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons for the IEEE Press, 2013. Paperback. Figures, tables, acknowledgments, acronyms, abbreviations, program names, index. ISBN: … Continue reading

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Major League Baseball, the Cardinals and the Browns, and the Challenge of “Small Markets”


Not until the 1960s did baseball executives begin to use terms like “small market” to describe the unique challenges of operating a successful major league franchise in an environment that did not generate the type of revenues available to teams … Continue reading

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Interpreting the Decision to Build the Space Shuttle


Wernher von Braun once supposedly told his colleagues: “We can lick gravity, but sometimes the paperwork is overwhelming.” Whether true or not the statement reflects what has been viewed for the last forty years as one of the traditional difficulties … Continue reading

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