Category: Misc.

Bad Move Buzz, Science Fiction DOES NOT Make Space Boring

Buzz Aldrin
Buzz Aldrin

I don’t suppose he can get it right all the time. Recently, Buzz Aldrin, second man on the Moon and huge space development advocate, has been very vocal with his views about NASA and the agency’s position in the space exploration pecking order. Good man, the world needs more people like him willing to encourage a more positive attitude toward space. But today, I read that the NASA legend has dropped a clanger. Fair play, he’s entitled to his views, but for once (and hopefully the only time) I will say “Buzz, you are totally, and unequivocally wrong.” So what did he say? Science fiction makes space science reality look boring.
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Astroengine.com Upgrade to WordPress 2.6

The newest version of WordPress was released today with loads of new features (including the long overdue wordcounter! I’m easy to please…). Most of the upgrades will make life a bit easier for me when posting new articles on Astroengine, so hopefully that will be reflected in the quality of my writing. If you want to learn more about WordPress and why this upgrade is pretty awesome, check out the online video from the developers of WordPress Version 2.6 (a.k.a. “Tyner,” after jazz pianist McCoy Tyner)…

Tonight’s Terra Chat Show Now Online

http://www.blogtalkradio.com/mediaplayer.swf?displayheight=&file=http://www.blogtalkradio.com%2fTerra-Chat-%2fplay_list.xml&autostart=false&shuffle=false&callback=http://www.blogtalkradio.com/FlashPlayerCallback.aspx&width=180&height=152&volume=80&corner=rounded

If you missed my discussion with Colin Knight on Terra Chat tonight, the show’s recording is now online. Either check out the Flash player to the left or download the archived mp3. For information on the show, check out “2012 – Cosmic Occurances, Planet X, Space Travel.”

We had a great time discussing everything from Planet X, UFOs, space travel, Mars colonization and space weather! Be sure to check out his show, it makes for entertaining and educational listening.

Thank you Colin for having me back on your show, I had a superb time! And keep hunting for those Planet X guys… 😉
Continue reading “Tonight’s Terra Chat Show Now Online”

Listen to Terra Chat Live Tonight: Cosmic Occurances, Planet X and Space Travel

I have been invited back onto Colin Knight’s Terra Chat show over at Blog Talk Radio tonight to discuss some follow-up topics to the Planet X doomsday scenario plus some cool stuff about space travel and Mars settlement planning. I had a great time on last month’s show (which aired on June 8th and is available for playback), and I’m sure tonight will be just as compelling. So, from 7pm Pacific Time (10pm Eastern Time), you can catch the live broadcast over at Terra Chat.

For more information on the show, check out: 2012 – Cosmic Occurances, Planet X, Space Travel.

Carnival of Space Week 62 – Space Disco (Discovery)

A black hole feeds off its companion star (NASA)

This week, the Carnival is a little different. Our host Dave Mosher at the superb blog Space Disco has assembled all this weeks entries into a nifty slideshow which works really well. I don’t think it’s been done before (and I wish I thought of it when hosting CoS week 51), but it is really effective and most importantly, interactive. I loved all the entries this week, and I entered my ramblings about when soil is not regolith on Mars and how Phoenix is helping us out with all the confusion. I thought it was important anyway… 😉

Enjoy! Ian

Carnival of Space Week 61 at Mang’s Bat Page

Tesla (deathray) experiment!

For this week’s adventures into all things astro, check out David Gamey’s Mang’s Bat Page. There is a large number of blog posts about the recent Tunguska research plus loads of other space news you’ll enjoy. For my entry, I submitted Watch out Phoenix! Don’t Scratch the CD! – my concerns for the safety of the CD on board the Phoenix Mars Lander that appears to be dropping piles of abrasive Mars regolith over the most expensive data disk ever made, let alone sent to Mars… (I wouldn’t lose any sleep over this though!)

Enjoy! Ian

2012 Doomsday Article Now Available in Portuguese

A Mayan pyramid, but did the Mayans really forecast doomsday?

With a special thanks to Nisia Chaves at Chá de Camomila, my original “No Doomsday in 2012” article published on the Universe Today has been carefully translated into Portuguese. This is great as it extends the readership to countries such as Portugal, Angola, Brazil, Cape Verde, East Timor, Guinea-Bissau, Chinese S.A.R. of Macau, Mozambique and São Tomé and Príncipe. Alas, my Portuguese is a bit rusty, so this might be a good chance to learn some important phrases from the 6th most popular language in the world. So lets start with “Nada de Juízo Final em 2012” – No Doomsday in 2012 😉
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Upcoming Radio Interviews for July

Following all the fun from chatting on Terra Chat with Colin Knight on June 8th and then Paranormal Radio with Captain Jack on June 10th, I’ve been invited back to discuss the 2012 craziness plus some other great topics. I’ll give more details closer to the time, but here’s what I have so far:

Thank you to both Jack and Colin for inviting me back, I’m very excited to be talking with them again this month…

Watch out Phoenix! Don’t Scratch the CD!

Abrasive – Phoenix sprinkles regolith into the oven (NASA/UA)

I’ve just written an article over on the Universe Today about the stunning discovery that Mars regolith actually bears very close resemblance to terrestrial soil. This is very cool as this shows Mars may be capable of sustaining life (as we know it) and it has implications for the future of manned Mars missions (we might be able to use this mineral-rich soil for growing plants for instance). So rather than replicating the article here, I urge you to pop over to the Universe Today article (Phoenix: Mars Soil Can Support Life) and enjoy (I was quite proud of pointing out the huge difference between “soil” and “regolith” in the final paragraph!). But that’s not the point of this Astroengine post, I have a far more pressing issue to voice…
Continue reading “Watch out Phoenix! Don’t Scratch the CD!”

Carnival of Space Week 60 – Slacker Astronomy


For the big week six-oh, we take a novel approach at doing the Carnival, and I must admit, I found it quite entertaining. Over at Slacker Astronomy, the 60th Carnival of Space, our host Michael takes the week’s news from the blogosphere and literally hard-wires it straight onto the web. Every week we send Fraser our little messages with a link to our little works of web space text, and each week those messages get lost in the host’s inbox. Not any more! For the world to see, Michael has lovingly displayed our messages, plus links. Good on you Michael, I was wondering how this week’s Carnival could stand out from the crowd. Some great entries too! Plus my entry is right near the top! Happy days 🙂