Tag Archives: hubble space telescope

Wednesday’s Book Review: “Beyond UFOs: The Search for Extraterrestrial Life and Its Astonishing Implications for Our Future”

Posted on October 19, 2016 by launiusr

Beyond UFOs: The Search for Extraterrestrial Life and Its Astonishing Implications for Our Future. By Jeffrey Bennett. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2008. Preface, acknowledgments, photographs, bibliography, and index. ISBN: 978-0-691-13549-6, 211 pages, $26.95 hardcover with dust jacket. While the … Continue reading →

Posted in Science, Space | Tagged 51 Pegasi B, ALH84001, astrobiology, Beyond UFOs: The Search for Extraterrestrial Life and Its Astonishing Implications for Our Future, Bill Bye, Cambridge University Press, Cornell University, Epsilon Eridani, extremophiles, Frank Drake, hubble space telescope, James E. Strick, Jeffrey Bennett, mars meteorites, NASA, National Radio Astronomy Observatory, Observatoir de Genève, Plurality of Worlds: The Origins of the Extraterrestrial Life Debate from Democritus to Kant, Princeton University Press, Rutgers University Press, SETI, Spitzer Infrared Space Telescope, Steven J. Dick, The Biological Universe: The Twentieth Century Extraterrestrial Life Debate and the Limits of Science, The Living Universe: NASA and the Development of Astrobiology | Leave a comment

What Happened to the Space Shuttle Columbia on February 1, 2003?

Posted on February 1, 2016 by launiusr

NASA personnel and leaders had a celebration planned on February 1, 2003, for the return of Columbia and its crew after the successful completion of STS-107. STS-107 had been launched from the Kennedy Space Center’s Launch Complex 39A on January … Continue reading →

Posted in History, Space, Space Shuttle | Tagged Admiral Harold W. Gehman Jr., Air Force Space Command, Columbia Accident Investigation Board (CAIB), David Brown, History, hubble space telescope, johnson space center, Kalpana Chawla, Kennedy Space Center, Launch Complex 39A, Laurel Clark, Michael Anderson, Michael D. Leimbach, Mission Commander Rick Husband; Pilot William “Willie” McCool; Mission Specialists Kalpana Chawla, NASA, Payload Specialist Ilan Ramon, politics, President George W. Bush, public perceptions, public policy, Rick Husband, Sean O'Keefe, space shuttle, STS-107, Tom Ridge, U.S. Civil Space, U.S. Joint Forces Command, U.S.S. Cole, William “Willie” McCool | Leave a comment

Wednesday’s Book Review: “Picturing the Cosmos”

Posted on December 2, 2015 by launiusr

Picturing the Cosmos: Hubble Space Telescope Images and the Astronomical Sublime. By Elizabeth A. Kessler. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 2012. Abbreviations, acknowledgments, notes, illustrations, bibliography, index. ISBN: 978-0-8166-7957-7. Paperback, $29.95 USD. There is no astronomical instrument better known worldwide … Continue reading →

Posted in History, Science, Space | Tagged Albert Bierstadt, Ansel Adams, Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9, Elizabeth A. Kessler, Endeavour, Endurance, Ernst Shackleton, Frank Hurley, Hubble Heritage Project, hubble space telescope, Michael D. Griffin, NASA, Picturing the Cosmos: Hubble Space Telescope Images and the Astronomical Sublime, Sean O'Keefe, Supernova 1987A, Thomas Moran, University of Minnesota Press | Leave a comment

Stunning NASA Video of the Largest Image Ever Taken

Posted on October 12, 2015 by launiusr

This stunning video prepared by NASA depicts over 100 million stars and thousands of star clusters embedded in a section of the Andromeda Galaxy, stretching over 40,000 light-years. it was taken by the Hubble Space Telescope and released on January 5, 2015. It’s … Continue reading →

Posted in Science, Space | Tagged Andromeda Galaxy, hubble space telescope, NASA | 3 Comments

A Revolution in Cosmology?

Posted on April 24, 2015 by launiusr

Only five centuries ago, not even the blink of an eye in time when compared to the age of the universe, humanity’s vision extended but a little beyond Saturn. Our ancestors envisioned a universe both limited and orderly. The telescope … Continue reading →

Posted in Science, Space | Tagged Big Bang, black hole, Copernican Revolution, corpuscular universe, cosmology, dark energy, dark matter, Edwin Hubble, Einstein Revolution, Explore the Universe, extrasolar planets, hubble space telescope, m-branes, M-theory, Milky Way, Mount Wilson Observatory, multiple dimensions, Pasadena | Leave a comment

Announcing a National Academies Presentation: “Our Place in the Universe, As Seen Through Past, Present, and Future Telescopes”

Posted on March 13, 2015 by launiusr

Our Place in the Universe, As Seen Through Past, Present, and Future Telescopes “What is our place in Universe?” Throughout human history, astronomy has repeatedly overthrown our understanding of this question and new telescopes and astronomers continue to do so. … Continue reading →

Posted in Science, Space | Tagged "Our Place in the Universe, Aeronautics, Aeronautics and Space Engineering Board, and Future Telescopes", Announcing a National Academies Presentation, As Seen Through Past, Board on Physics and Astronomy, hubble space telescope, Jason Kalirai, NRC Space Science Week 2015, Present, Space Engineering Board, Space Studies Board, Space Telescope Science Institute | Leave a comment

Whither Space Astronomy?

Posted on February 2, 2015 by launiusr

The space age provided astronomers an opportunity to expand research far beyond the capabilities offered by ground-based observatories of earlier eras. During the 1960s they began using space-based technology to enhance humanity’s understanding of the universe. In addition to greatly enhanced … Continue reading →

Posted in History, Politics, Science | Tagged Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) telescope, Chandra X-Ray Observatory, COBE, Compton Gamma Ray Observatory, Great Observatories, Herschel Telescope, History, hubble space telescope, James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), Kepler Space Telescope, Multiple Mirror Telescope (MMT), NASA, Orbiting Astronomical Observatory (OAO), Orbiting Geophysical Observatory (OGO), SOFIA airborne observatory, space science, Spitzer Space Telescope, U.S. Civil Space, Uhuru | 4 Comments

Chronology of Key Space Anniversaries for 2015

Posted on January 12, 2015 by launiusr

1945—70 Years Ago 4 July—The NACA’s Pilotless Aircraft Research Division (PARD) launched from Wallops Island, Maryland, its first test vehicle, a small two-stage, solid-fuel rocket to check out the installation’s instrumentation. The group soon began serious work to learn about … Continue reading →

Posted in History, Space | Tagged 1960s, Advisory Committee on the Future of the U.S. Space Program, Akatsuki, Alexei Leonov, Apollo 13, Apollo-Soyuz Test Project, Army Ballistics Missile Agency, Atlantis, Atlas, cold war, Deep Impact 1, Dragon, Echo 1, Ed White, Falcon 9, Frank Borman, Gemini III, Gemini IV, Gemini VI, Gemini VII, George C. Marshall Space Flight Center, Gus Grissom, Hayabusa, History, hubble space telescope, IKAROS, Intelsat 1, International Space Station, Jim Lovell, John W. Young, Luna 16, Luna 17, Lunokhod 1, Mariner 4, Mir, Moon, Moon race, NACA, NASA, National Security Council, Naval Research Laboratory, Norman E. Thagard, Pilotless Aircraft Research Division, Project Vanguard, Redstone Arsenal, science, Soyuz 9, space science, space shuttle, SpaceX, Tiros 1, Titan, Tom Stafford, Transit 1B, U.S. Civil Space, V-2, Viking, Voskhod 2, Voyager, WAC-Corporal, Wally Schirra, Wernher von Braun, White Sands Proving Grounds | 5 Comments

Announcing the Publication of “Hubble’s Legacy: Reflections by Those Who Dreamed It, Built It, and Observed the Universe with It”

Posted on August 29, 2014 by launiusr

David H. DeVorkin and I have just published a collected work on the history of the Hubble Space Telescope. Hubble’s Legacy: Reflections by Those Who Dreamed It, Built It, and Observed the Universe with It appeared in August 2014 (ISBN 978-1-935623-32-8) as part … Continue reading →

Posted in History, Science, Space | Tagged and Observed the Universe with It, Built It, David H. DeVorkin, History, hubble space telescope, Hubble's Legacy: Reflections by Those Who Dreamed It, NASA, public policy, science, space science, space shuttle, U.S. Civil Space | 2 Comments

A Chronology of Key Space Anniversaries for 2014

Posted on January 1, 2014 by launiusr

There are many anniversaries every year, some truly significant and others of a more mundane nature. What follows is a short chronology of anniversaries taking place in 2014 relating to the spaceflight community. It is not an exhaustive list, but … Continue reading →

Posted in Apollo, Cold War Competition, Lunar Exploration, Space, Space Shuttle | Tagged Able, Apollo 11, Baker, Compton Gamma Ray Observatory, Eileen Collins, Galileo, Gemini, hubble space telescope, IGY, International Space Station, Jupiter, Luna 1, Luna 2, Luna 3, Magellan, Mars Climate Orbiter, Mars Polar Lander, Michael D. Griffin, Opportunity, Pioneer 4, Ronald Reagan, Saturn I, Skylab, space shuttle, Space Task Group, SpaceShipOne, Spirit, V-2, Voyager 2, White Sands | 5 Comments