Oxford High School Space Cats

05/24/2014

How does NASA organize a party?..
They "planet".

04/27/2014

The Apollo 16 command module, with astronauts John Young, Ken Mattingly, and Charlie Duke aboard, splashed down in the central Pacific Ocean on April 27, 1972, successfully concluding the lunar landing mission. This picture was taken just as a Navy diver was helping John Young onto the recovery raft.

04/27/2014

X1.3 flare in progress from AR12035. Peaked at 00:27 UT, 04/25. Waiting for CME info but event was West solar limb

04/27/2014

04/27/2014

04/25/2014

Today is the 24th and it is also the 24th anniversary of the launch of the Hubble space telescope.

Hubble has taken some of the most awe inspiring images in the Universe of the Universe and besides those, several fantastic images of objects within our own solar system too.

More "Things:" about this week: http://1.usa.gov/1gRJtYc

Hubble images: http://bit.ly/1iirj3P

Information about the NASA Hubble exhibit at the National Air and Space Museum: http://1.usa.gov/1hsihuZ

More about Hubble: http://1.usa.gov/1hqdBKz

04/25/2014

Photo of the week: on Hubble Servicing Mission 1, STS-61 in 1993, astronauts noticed that one of ESA's solar arrays was bent beyond repair. Astronaut Kathryn Thornton detached the damaged panel and jettisoned it into space, seen here. The second panel was returned to ESA for analysis. Among the 7-member STS-61 crew was ESA astronaut Claude Nicollier (CH). More at http://www.esa.int/spaceinimages/Images/2010/12/Astronaut_Kathy_Thornton_throws_damaged_array_into_space

04/25/2014

Space images of galaxies, stars and nebulas as seen by NASA's Hubble Space Telescope.

03/24/2014

The teams that can use telerobotic or autonomous operation to excavate the basaltic regolith simulant, called Black Point-1 or BP-1, and score the most points wins the Joe Kosmo Award for Excellence. Ladies and Gentlemen, Robotocists of all ages, here is Joe Kosmo!

Keystone Jr. College (G-1959: Assoc. Arts);
Penn State Univ. (G-1961: BS Aero. Engr.);
Univ. of Houston (G-1978: MS Environ. Mgmt.)

What do you do for NASA? Retired in 2011 after 50 years with NASA. Previously served as Senior Project Engr. for Space Suit Development and Mission Manager for Desert Research & Technology Studies, probably better known as Desert RATS
How are you supporting the Robotic Mining Competition this year? As one of the competition judges – probably as an inspection judge, so I’ll be keeping my eyes on you!
What is your favorite memory of NASA or the competition? Having the distinct opportunity to wear and demonstrate a prototype Apollo space suit for President John Kennedy during his visit in September 1962 to the Manned Spacecraft Center facilities in Houston.
What is something you cannot live without (besides your family)? Coffee!
What is your favorite place to visit and why? My ranch in west Texas to commune with nature and get away from the hustle & bustle of civilization!
Which superpower do you have and when was the last time you used it? If I did have a superpower, I must have lost it somewhere along the way of life - - !
What is your favorite quote? “Trust but verify!”
What are some fun/random facts about yourself? Unfortunately, all the good stuff has been “sequestered”!
Thank you for your years of honorable service to the agency and to our country. You continue to inspire this and the many generations who will follow, well done!

03/24/2014

Sailors from the aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman (CVN 75) were reunited with family members deployed on board the aircraft carrier USS George H. W. Bush (CVN 77), March 22.

Read more at: http://www.navy.mil/submit/display.asp?story_id=79843

03/21/2014

The Inuit sought to explain the phases of the Moon through the story of Anningan, the Moon god, and Malina, the Sun goddess. According to oral tradition, the two were brother and sister. One night, the siblings quarreled, overturning an oil lamp, and Malina pushed her brother Anningan away, dirtying his face with oil. Malina ran as far away into the sky as she could, and Anningan followed her in an eternal pursuit. According to this story, Anningan becomes skinnier each night from chasing his sister, eventually disappearing for three days to eat.

We now know that the phases of the Moon are caused by the differing angles at which we view the Sun’s light reflected back to Earth.

Find out the date and time for all phases of the Moon until 2025: http://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/phase/phase2001gmt.html

03/21/2014

A native of Belgium, Helene Dutrieu was a sportswoman and pilot, earning her the nickname “girl hawk.” She soloed in France in 1909, and set altitude and distance records for aviation very early into her career. On November 25, 1910, Dutrieu became the first Belgian woman to receive a pilot’s license, and she narrowly escaped death twice in her second year of aviation. In 1913, she was awarded the French Legion of Honor, and was the only female pilot at that time to have received this decoration. Later in her life, she became the vice president of the women’s Aero-club of France.

Image source: www.ctie.monash.edu.au