SpaceX to establish a permanent colony on Mars

Billionaire Elon Musk said his private spaceflight company SpaceX has made some progress toward establishing a permanent colony on Mars — a longtime goal in the entrepreneur’s push to help make humanity a multiplanet species. “The reason SpaceX was created was to accelerate development of rocket technology, all for the goal of establishing a self-sustaining, permanent base on Mars,” Musk told an audience here after receiving the Robert A. Heinlein Memorial Award during the 33rd annual International Space Development Conference on Friday (May 16). Musk cited the success of SpaceX’s recent reusable rocket test on April 18 as a critical achievement on the road to Mars. During that test flight, SpaceX launched a two-stage Falcon 9 rocket from its Florida pad and then returned the rocket’s first stage back to Earth to make a vertical “soft landing” at a target in the Atlantic Ocean, before splashing down.

North American A-5 Vigilante

The North American A-5 Vigilante was a carrier-based supersonic bomber designed and built by North American Aviation for the United States Navy. Its service in the nuclear strike role to replace the Douglas A-3 Skywarrior was very short; however, as the RA-5C, it saw extensive service during the Vietnam War in the tactical strike reconnaissance role

North American XF-108 Rapier

The North American XF-108 Rapier was a proposed long-range, high-speed interceptor aircraft designed by North American Aviation intended to defend the United States from supersonic Soviet bombers. To limit development costs, the program shared engine development with the North American XB-70 Valkyrie strategic bomber program, and used a number of elements of earlier interceptor projects. The program had progressed only as far as the construction of a single wooden mockup when it was cancelled in 1959, due to a shortage of funds and the Soviet's adoption of ballistic missiles as their primary means of nuclear attack. Had it flown, the F-108 would have been the heaviest fighter of its era. Following the program's termination, the fire-control system, incorporating the Hughes GAR-9 missile, was adapted for the Lockheed YF-12, which was itself canceled.

Forbidden Planet Poster

 

Cool poster for the 1956 Science Fiction Film Forbidden Planet. 

The bots from MST3K

The bots from MST3K

Tom Servo (Top) and Crow T. Robot (Bottom). The Robotic hosts of Mystery Science Theater 3000.

Cool pic of SpaceX Dragon

SpaceX Dragon, Canadarm2, Dextre and a fantastic background.

Canada's MOST astronomy mission comes to an end

After more than ten years of studying the Universe, the Canadian Microvariability and Oscillation of STars
(MOST) mission will come to an end on September 9, 2014, having exceeded its o
bjectives. Since its launch in 2003, MOST has produced over one hundred science publications and provided astronomers with new insights into the behaviour of stars. Originally planned as a one-year project, MOST was extended annually due to the telescope's continued successes. The suitcase-sized telescope will leave a prolific legacy of data for astronomers to analyze.

In the fall of 2013, the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) conducted a mission extension review in cooperation with members of Canada's astronomy community. The evaluation weighed the mission's ongoing operational costs against its objectives and new alternatives to obtain similar data. The review led to the recommendation that the mission be terminated, considering that MOST had already surpassed its objectives.

MOST has helped a new generation of astronomers and space engineers advance their studies and research. Under the leadership of its Principal Investigator, Dr. Jaymie Matthews of the University of British Columbia, the MOST science team currently includes members from: the University of British Columbia, the University of Toronto, Université de Montréal, St-Mary's University, the University of Vienna, Harvard University and NASA's Ames Research Center.