Tag Archives: NASA

To stay put and fix what’s broken, or to leave the earth altogether and try our luck elsewhere…

By Mark | May 20, 2013

NASA’s Chief Technologist, Mason Peck, took to Reddit this afternoon, answering questions on everything from the democratization of space, and our current research into warp drives, to the role of 3D printing in the colonization of other planets, and the possibility of encasing our astronauts in water during the voyage to Mars in order to [...]

Posted in Other, Uncategorized | Also tagged 3D printing, colonization of space, manned space flight, Mars, Mason Peck, Neil DeGrasse Tyson, Science, space, space exploration | 13 Comments

Incredibly powerful ad campaign reminds swing state voters of Romney’s dismissive comments on global climate change prior to Hurricane Sandy

By Mark | November 3, 2012

As we’ve discussed before, during the Republican National Convention, Mitt Romney took the stage, and, pandering to the far right of his increasingly anti-scinece party, made a dismissive joke about extreme weather brought about as a result of global climate change. Romney, pointing out to his fellow Republicans that Obama not only believed in global [...]

Posted in Environment, Politics | Also tagged global climate change, Goddard Institute for Space Studies, Hurricane Sandy, Munich Re, Obama, ocean temperatures, oceanic studies, RNC, Romney | 22 Comments

On exploring space, drinking beer from my enemy’s skull, and the art of sweding

By Mark | December 20, 2011

Is it just me, or does it seem as though every time there’s talk of cutting NASA’s budget, the space agency issues a press release saying that they’ve found some new, Earth-like planet? I’m not faulting them for it. I’d probably do the same thing. I just think that it’s interesting. (I bet they’re sitting [...]

Posted in Mark's Life, Observations, Other, Science, Uncategorized | Also tagged Earth-like planets, Hugo, Kepler 20F, Kepler space telescope, Kim Jong Il, manned space flight, Mark as Kim Jong Il, Martin Scorsese, Maynardtown, Michel Gondry, Michelangelo, NASA funding, PBR, space exploration, supreme leader, Taxi Driver, the end of the earth, Twilight Zone, Water Street | 11 Comments

Turning our backs on space, and ending the American century

By Mark | July 7, 2011

With tomorrow’s launch of the Space Shuttle, the age of manned space exploration, after more than 50 years, will officially draw to a close in America. It’s a sad day, and I think that it speaks volumes concerning where we are as a country. The optimism that we once had as a nation is gone. [...]

Posted in Education, Science | Also tagged Afghanistan, anti-intellectualism, big bang, budget cuts, creationism, dumbing down of America, Gene Cernan, Iraq, James Webb Space Telescope, JFK, Jim Lovell, John F. Kennedy, Neil Armstrong, putting a man on the moon, research funding, space race, tax the rich, Whitey on the Moon | 16 Comments

On the passing of Gill Scott-Heron

By Mark | May 30, 2011

Gill Scott Herron died a few days ago. I was going to commemorate his passing with The Revolution Will Not be Televised, but, seeing as how most of us reading this site are living in SE Michigan, I thought that I’d go with his anti-nuclear power song, We Almost Lost Detroit, which is particularly pertinent [...]