Science Square » space mission http://blog.sciencesquare.com The Meeting Place Of Science Education And Storytelling Mon, 31 May 2010 17:14:48 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 en hourly 1 Can I STILL be an astronaut? http://blog.sciencesquare.com/2010/02/can-i-still-be-an-astronaut/ http://blog.sciencesquare.com/2010/02/can-i-still-be-an-astronaut/#comments Fri, 05 Feb 2010 20:42:00 +0000 Kamal http://blog.sciencesquare.com/?p=390 This is the QUESTION you may be asking yourself after you heard the news. The next generation of spacecrafts being built to take astronauts into space, to the moon and BEYOND, otherwise known as the Constellation Program has been canceled.
Traveling into space.

Traveling into space. Credit: NASA


When I first heard the possibility of this happening, I was disappointed and saddened. As a young boy, I had dreamed of becoming an astronaut one day. I am sure that is still the case with many young boys and GIRLS who are in school today but hope to go into SPACE someday. What does this bit of news mean to them and YOU, if you are a young girl or boy?

What the news media is not reporting as widely is the fact that NASA has been issued a new directive by President Obama to work more closely with the private sector, companies like Virgin Galactic, SpaceX and others to take astronauts into space. This means there will be MORE spots for astronauts on spaceships than exist today.

If you DREAM of someday going into space, do not give up that dream. Your chances of becoming an astronaut just went up. Of course, you will still need a good education to secure your place on a spaceship.

SocialTwist Tell-a-Friend]]> http://blog.sciencesquare.com/2010/02/can-i-still-be-an-astronaut/feed/ 0 YOUR words in space. http://blog.sciencesquare.com/2010/01/your-words-in-space/ http://blog.sciencesquare.com/2010/01/your-words-in-space/#comments Sat, 02 Jan 2010 23:12:40 +0000 Kamal http://blog.sciencesquare.com/?p=316 The Internet has opened up a whole new world to public participation in science projects both big and small. These were usually restricted to the in-crowd but are now available to anyone with a computer. The level of participation can be very active, as in the case of GalaxyZoo.org (more on this later), or very passive like in Folding@home and SETI@home.
Akatsui space craft.

Illustration of the Akatsui spacecraft around the planet Venus. Credit: Akihiro Ikeshita


Sometimes, they are a one time deal that can still be very exciting to participate in. Akatsuki (Japanese for dawn) is one such opportunity. Akatsui is a Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) space mission to study the planet Venus. The Akatsui Message Campaign is a public outreach effort for the mission, which allows people to submit a very short message that will be printed onto an aluminum plate what will be attached to the Akatsui spacecraft.

The deadline for submissions is January 10, 2010. Sorry for the late notice but I just found out about it. I should add, although the slogan for this outreach program reads, “We will deliver your message to the bright star Venus,” Venus is actually a planet. But, you already knew that. Thanks to my friend Robert Sparks for the info.

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