Tag Archives: Earth science

Wednesday’s Book Review: “Red Moon Rising: Sputnik and the Hidden Rivalries that Ignited the Space Age”


Red Moon Rising: Sputnik and the Hidden Rivalries that Ignited the Space Age. By Matthew Brzezinski. New York: Henry Holt and Company, 2007. The fiftieth anniversary of the launch of Sputnik 1 on October 4, 1957, sparked the publication of … Continue reading

Posted in Cold War Competition, Earth Science, History, Politics, Science, Space | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Publication of my Edited Work: “Exploring the Solar System: The History and Science of Planetary Exploration”


I am pleased to note that this week Palgrave Macmillan released my edited work, Exploring the Solar System: The History and Science of Planetary Exploration. This book has been years in the making, and includes essays on a broad selection … Continue reading

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Video of Solar System Exploration @ 50 Symposium Available


To commemorate the 50th anniversary of the first successful planetary mission in 1962, the NASA History Program Office, in conjunction with the Division of Space History at the National Air and Space Museum, the NASA Science Mission Directorate, and the Jet … Continue reading

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Is There a Military Human Spaceflight Mission on the Horizon?


There has been a long mating dance between the civil and military space programs over the past few the years relative to the role of humans in space. In a succession of recent studies ranging from the Air Force Science … Continue reading

Posted in aeronautics, History, Politics, Space | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 14 Comments

Great NASA Video: “Walking On Air”


This video features a series of time lapse sequences photographed by the Expedition 30 crew aboard the International Space Station. Set to the song “Walking in the Air,” by Howard Blake, the video takes viewers around the world, through auroras, … Continue reading

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Announcement of Space Policy and History Forum #4


Falling Back to Earth: A First Hand Account of the Great Space Race and the End of the Cold War Space Policy and History Forum #4 Presented by Dr. Mark Albrecht, Board of Trustees, USSpace LLC Abstract: Mark Albrecht will … Continue reading

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Notes on an Important Book: Ross Gelbspan’s “Boiling Point”


Boiling Point: How Politicians, Big Oil and Coal, Journalists, and Activists Have Fueled the Climate Crisis—and What We Can Do to Avert Disaster. By Ross Gelbspan. New York: Basic Books, 2004. The author of this book, journalist Ross Gelbspan, sounds … Continue reading

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Envisioning Limits: Outer Space and the End of Utopia


I am attending the conference, “Envisioning Limits: Outer Space and the End of Utopia,” sponsored by the Emmy Noether Research Group, Friedrich-Meinecke-Institut, at the Freie Universität Berlin. It is a very engaging program and between April 19 and 21, 2012, … Continue reading

Posted in Apollo, Applications Satellites, Cold War Competition, Earth Science, History, International Space Station, Lunar Exploration, Politics, Science, Space, Space Shuttle | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Why Explore Space? A 1970 Letter to a Nun in Africa


Ernst Stuhlinger wrote this letter on May 6, 1970, to Sister Mary Jucunda, a nun who worked among the starving children of Kabwe, Zambia, in Africa, who questioned the value of space exploration. At the time Dr. Stuhlinger was Associate … Continue reading

Posted in Apollo, Applications Satellites, Cold War Competition, Earth Science, History, Lunar Exploration, Personal, Politics, Science, Space | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 67 Comments

Thinking About Space Exploration: “Space 2012″ on the Kojo Nnamdi Show


Howard McCurdy and I appeared on the Kojo Nnamdi Show on January 2, 2012, for a discussion of the Space Shuttle’s replacement, the discovery of extrasolar planets closer the size of Earth than anything yet discovered, the prospects for life … Continue reading

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