Space Camp and The Real Deal

     The Washington Post reports on the shifted mission of Huntsville's Space Camp in light of this week's last shuttle launch.

     Funny how all of the GOP presidential candidates agree that there should be no federal funding for human space flight, but the GOP generally is opposed to eliminating or cutting the tax breaks for the companies that build corporate jets.

     INNER Space GOOD! OUTER space BAD!

     And incument Democrat Barack Obama is being criticised by none other than Neil Armstrong (and two other moon mission commanders)---who barely ever says a word about anything---in a USA Today editorial. They say Obama is to blame for a NASA that is in disarray.

     The last shuttle mission launches on Friday morning.

     Live long and prosper.

     But keep your feet planted on Mother Earth.

UA Researcher Helps Find Buried Pyramids!

     I know that looks like a headline from a tabloid, but it's true. NASA used satellite photography to discover the location of seventeen lost pyramids in Egypt. And a University of Alabama professor is right in the middle of it.

     Now if only that would make Egyptians love America more.

    Another story out this month says the Arab Spring uprisings and the U.S. support for them has not changed  how much they dislike us.

Goodby Spirit!

     The long-lived "Spirit" Mars rover is gone, frozen apparently by the Martian Winter.

     In reading the AP story, I found it interesting how similar the scientists' reactions were to the death of an actual person.

     Spirit's twin, "Opportunity" lives on, both of them examples of what American can do when it puts its mind to it.

The Nazi Connection

     There is no reference to Huntsville's use of former Nazi scientists like Wernher Von Braun in rocket research, but a story in this (Sunday) morning's N.Y. Times delves into the U.S. efforts to shield and use some Nazis for the country's own purposes after WWII.

     A good read.