Global Spin

You may already know this, but in a move designed to make me (and you?) ever-so-slightly giddy, Paul Allen (SpaceShipOne) and Richard Branson (Virgin Airways) have decided to join forces and get a space tourism business up and running by 2007. It’s only $198,600 a pop for a three-hour tour, so start saving (Oh, yeah, [...]

Posted by Deana in Space on September 28th, 2004 | Comments Off

For all you polytheists (or even henotheists) out there, here’s a fun, easy guide to the gods called “Godchecker.” From the Australian Aboriginal Bellin-Bellin to the Egyptian plant god, Uneg, they’re all here (or nearly!).

Posted by Deana in Religion on September 27th, 2004 | Comments Off

Seems reasonable to me: If you want to know whether astronauts could handle an extended-duration mission to Mars, “ask an astronaut”:http://www.decaturdaily.com/decaturdaily/news/040923/foale.shtml. Specifically, ask one who has logged over a year on orbit, including a 6-month stint living with just one other cosmonaut. His advice? Don’t sweat the niceties, and don’t skimp on oxygen.

Posted by Chris in Space on September 23rd, 2004 | 1 Comment »

Now that he can’t use the WMD justification, the terrorist justification, or the International Community justification, Our Fair President has devolved to using the “dictator justification”:http://www.misleader.org/daily_mislead/Read.asp?fn=df09222004.html to explain why we invaded Iraq at a cost of thousands of lives and hundreds of billions of dollars. “The Daily Mislead”:http://www.misleader.org/daily_mislead/Read.asp?fn=df09222004.html begs to differ with that reasoning.

Posted by Chris in Politics on September 22nd, 2004 | Comments Off

This just in: “SpaceDev”:http://www.spacedev.com/, the San Diego company that provides “SpaceShipOne”:http://www.space.com/missionlaunches/sso_rutan_archive.html’s revolutionary hybrid rocket engine, is developing “Dream Chaser”:http://www.spacedev.com/newsite/templates/subpage_article.php?pid=489, a low-cost sub-orbital spacecraft. Not limited to X-Prize ranges, Dream Chaser is designed to scale up to the point where people can be delivered to and from Low Earth Orbit (read: “space station”:http://www.space.com/news/businessmonday_040524.html).

Posted by Chris in Space on September 22nd, 2004 | Comments Off