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mars rover
Posts Tagged “
Space
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mars rover
music
For Those About To Grok
"I'm your superluminal lover, baby, emission beamed into the night. Check out my relativistic jet, my love's faster than the speed of light." Ok, so Alan Marscher, Professor of Astronomy at Boston University, isn't exactly Bob Dylan. Or even LL Cool J. But he does write dope lyrics about astrophysics, and really, how many people can you say that about?" The latin rhythms of "Superluminal Love" are not all that the multi-talented Professor Marscher has to offer. More »
exobiology
Alien Plants of Many Colors
The first extraterrestrial life we spot will probably be plant life, but what will it look like? There's a good chance it will be blue, purple, red or even black. A team of scientists examined what makes Earth plants green, then modeled the evolution of plants on worlds with different kinds of stars or atmospheres. The answers they came up with could help astronomers detect planets beyond our solar system with flora. More »
international space station
On the International Space Station, You Can Watch Star Wars But Not Star Trek
In a stroke of weird genius, the people at GovernmentAttic.org issued a FOIA (freedom of information act) request to the US government to reveal the contents of the multimedia library on the International Space Station. Probably happy that they weren't being asked about the Patriot Act, the government happily complied, supplying us with a 13-page document containing the titles of every book, movie, and TV show in the ISS library. Not surprisingly there's a lot of science fiction in the mix, plus (of course) The Right Stuff. But there are some shocking choices in terms of what got put in — and what got left out. More »
martians
The Ninteenth Century Madman Who Invented Martians
He was the man who launched a thousand imaginary rocketships to Mars — in the nineteenth century, before anybody knew the word "Martian" and War of the Worlds hadn't been written yet. Percival Lowell, a wealthy Bostonian, spent his youth traveling Japan and Korea before having a nervous breakdown and recovering by falling in love with Mars. He built the Lowell Observatory in Arizona just so he could get a better look at the planet, and spent months staring at it every night, taking notes and writing books about how it might be possible that other creatures lived there. A mesmerizing speaker, Lowell gave lectures and readings all over the country, popularizing the idea that the Martian "canals" might be signs of Martian civilization. With the new Phoenix Mars Lander about to plop down on the Red Planet, the Boston Globe's Nancy Zaroulis has published an amazing and timely article about Lowell's life. More »
space porn
Japan to Scan Venus, Find King Ghidora
The Japanese space agency, JAXA, is sending an orbiter to Venus in a few years to scan the surface of our nearest planetary neighbor. The PLANET C orbiter (it even sounds like a secret weapon straight out of a Godzilla movie) will use million-pixel cameras to peer through the dense cloudcover and see what lies on Venus' surface. Of course, kaiju fans know what they're likely to find with their super-advanced UV and infrared digital cameras - a giant, three-headed, lightning spewing dragon named King Ghidora. More »
architecture
French photojournalist Frederic Chaubin likes to take photographs of science-fictiony Soviet architecture from the 1970s and 80s. During that era, the Soviets erected several formidable buildings that look like cities you'd see on an alien world. Pictured here is a strangely organic-looking wedding palace which is located in Georgia. More U.S.S.R. spaceportecture below.
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1970s Soviet Alien Architecture
French photojournalist Frederic Chaubin likes to take photographs of science-fictiony Soviet architecture from the 1970s and 80s. During that era, the Soviets erected several formidable buildings that look like cities you'd see on an alien world. Pictured here is a strangely organic-looking wedding palace which is located in Georgia. More U.S.S.R. spaceportecture below.
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rant
The Empty Universe vs. Zillions of Aliens Debate
It's a big, dumb, empty universe, according to a new formula that estimates our chances of meeting non-human intelligent life. The odds have been estimated before, most famously by the Drake Equation, but now a British scientist has tried to throw a wet blanket over exobiologists and scifi writers by claiming that intelligent life is vanishingly rare. Here's why he's wrong. More »
moon colony
Moonflowers Grow On Lunar Surface With Bacterial Boost
The first lunar colonists will grow their own vegetables directly in the soil of the moon, while Earthbound romantics will order moonroses for their sweethearts. Researchers now claim that instead of carting tons of Earth soil to the moon for agriculture, moonfarms will use the dirt, rock and dust already present. The secret to growing plants on the seemingly infertile lunar surface? Just add bacteria. More »
martian geography
Using telescopes, astronomers have been mapping the surface of Mars in surprising detail for over 100 years. This map of the entire Martian globe, showing everything from Mare Australe to Mare Boreum, was made in 1890. Now you can check a satellite photo to see how accurate it really was.
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Mars in the Nineteenth Century
Using telescopes, astronomers have been mapping the surface of Mars in surprising detail for over 100 years. This map of the entire Martian globe, showing everything from Mare Australe to Mare Boreum, was made in 1890. Now you can check a satellite photo to see how accurate it really was.
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retro futurism
Happy Soviets Dance on the Moon, 1961
Three cartoon cosmonauts (one of them a woman) celebrate their lunar landing in this Soviet-era postcard. The fact that the Russkis have yet to walk on the moon makes it all the more adorable. Click through for a closer look. More »
galactic raiders
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Stop-Motion Dinosaurs on Another Planet
You can never get enough dinosaurs in space, and that's why indie filmmaker Larry Arpin spent the last several years filming his dinotastic space opera Galactic Raiders in the deepest California desert. The whole flick is done old-school, from the Ray Harryhausen-style, stop-motion dinos, to the retro Mitchell camera he filmed with. And the plot is pure pulp. Rymir zooms to a distant planet (full of dinos, whom he fights in this clip) to rescue his girlfriend from the evil Acastus.More »
concept art
This looks like the poster for an awesome science fiction film that we'd like to see: a girl in a giant hulking exoskeletal suit of armor with her comic-effect tiny little robotic pal perched on her shoulder. You've got evil signified by the pouring lava on the left hand side of the background, while fighters triumphantly scream past a proud city on the right. Whatever is happening here, we want to know more.
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Getting Ready for the Final Battle
This looks like the poster for an awesome science fiction film that we'd like to see: a girl in a giant hulking exoskeletal suit of armor with her comic-effect tiny little robotic pal perched on her shoulder. You've got evil signified by the pouring lava on the left hand side of the background, while fighters triumphantly scream past a proud city on the right. Whatever is happening here, we want to know more.
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scifi cliches
It's X -- In Space!
We all know the key to making something science fiction: Just take any old thing and stick it in space. It works every time! Got a bunch of dinosaur drawings but have to make a scifi cartoon show? Just put the dinosaurs in space! Or hey, how about race cars — but in space! Now you've got Star Wars: The Phantom Menace. It's time to celebrate every tale spawned by a pitch meeting that included the phrase "It's X — but in space!" We've got ten of the most memorable and unlikely right here for you. More »
retro futurism
We Will Land on Mars and We Will Sell Them Shoes
Capitalism triumphs again in this cartoon from a novelty ink blotter dating to the 1950s. Ink blotters, by the way, were absorbent cards used to soak up excess ink from your fountain pen. Thanks to the invention of the ballpoint, they were a dying technology when this one, celebrating future technology, was printed. More »
exoplanets
Almost Earth 2: Small Rocky Planet is Closest Yet
Okay, so it's not G889 that humans colonized in the TV series, but it's the closest astronomers have found yet. Weighing in at around 5 Earth masses and 1.5 times Earthly diameter, GJ 436c (which orbits the star GJ 436) is the smallest rocky exoplanet ever discovered. It still has many of the wonky traits of other exos like a 3-week long day and a 5.2 day-long year, but preliminary calculations suggest the toasty planet could be nice and balmy at the poles — perfect for an extended beach vacation in the Leo constellation. More »
space colonization
NASA scientists have been arguing for years that Martian moons Phobos and Deimos may be the best place to in the solar system for humans to colonize. Some would argue even better than our own Moon. The Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter's HiRISE camera snapped two awesome color shots of what might be humanity's next home during a flyby on March 23rd. Why do NASA geeks think the Martian moons might be the best real estate investment of the 21st century?
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Earthlings' Next Home: Phobos?
NASA scientists have been arguing for years that Martian moons Phobos and Deimos may be the best place to in the solar system for humans to colonize. Some would argue even better than our own Moon. The Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter's HiRISE camera snapped two awesome color shots of what might be humanity's next home during a flyby on March 23rd. Why do NASA geeks think the Martian moons might be the best real estate investment of the 21st century?
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concept art
It's not clear if the two travelers in this concept art have crashed into this glowing cavern, or if that's simply their parking place. Maybe there's a swarm of flesh-peeling mites just out of view, but it looks like a good place for an adventure to us.
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Not A Bad Place To Crash a Spaceship
It's not clear if the two travelers in this concept art have crashed into this glowing cavern, or if that's simply their parking place. Maybe there's a swarm of flesh-peeling mites just out of view, but it looks like a good place for an adventure to us.
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